Bigger Than the Prankster: A Fred Weasley Love Story
by VolcanToliman
Summary: Casey Volkova and the Weasley twins have been best friends since they first met in their first year of Hogwarts. But what happens when friendship evolves into something more in the midst of a wizarding war? Disclaimer: I own none of the characters except for the original characters. The Harry Potter characters and plot belong to J.K. Rowling. Rated T for mild adult language.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction and History

Casey stood on the rooftop of her grandfather's small adobe house, looking over at the volcanoes in the distance. She really had not thought that she was going to miss this view, but as she waited for her grandfather to finish breakfast, she started to realize how much she'd miss it now that she knew that tomorrow she would not be back to see it in a very long time.

* * *

The Caseys were an Irish wizarding family who prided themselves on their pureblood and their painstaking neutrality. They were among some of the only pureblood wizarding families who did not oppose the Statute of Secrecy, nor have feelings of enmity toward muggles after the statue was enacted. In fact, the Casey family held an entirely indifferent stance on muggles, choosing not to intermarry with them, but willingly befriended and interacted with muggles and muggleborns. Due to their high status in the wizarding world, few other pureblood families incriminated the Casey family and avoided calling them "blood traitors." The Casey family continued to hold their high status in the wizarding world until the rise of Lord Voldemort.

Two young brothers from the Casey family attended Hogwarts around the same time as Tom Riddle, the elder, Pax, being three years older than Riddle and the younger, Atius, being a year younger. Atius Casey befriended Tom Riddle and became one of the very firt Death Eaters, while Pax Casey fled the country upon his graduation from Hogwarts, eager to avoid the upcoming war.

Pax spent nearlyu the rest of his life living in the United States, Mexico, and Guatemala studying ancient magic practiced by indigenous peoples of North America, where he met and fell in love with a Mayan bruja in Guatemala and they raised their only child, Guadelupe, in the mountains of Central America, far from the rising power of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Guadalupe attended a magical academy in Chiapas, Mexico, but always dreamed of the land where her father grew up.

It was not long after her graduation from her magical academy in Chiapas that Guadalupe traveled to Great Britain against her parents' wishes to explore the land where her father lived. Though she had only intended on staying for a few months, she ended up joining the Order of the Phoenix and staying for several years, getting a job at the Ministry of Magic working with the International Cooperation of Magic office, where she met her husband, Antonin Volkova, a Russian wizard from the Russian Ministry.

The two had two twin daughters, Casey-named after the surname she was so proud of-and Alexia. However, only a year after the birth of their children, both Guadalupe and Antonin were brutally murdered by Death Eaters. Their twin daughters went back to Guatemala to live with their grandparents. They lived in Guatemala with their grandparents for several years until their grandmother died and they moved to the United States to attend school. At age 11, the twins received their letters from Hogwarts and after a lot of begging, their grandfather allowed them to attend Hogwarts with the condition that they must come back and live with him in Guatemala during the summers.

* * *

_Maybe I could convince grandfather to let me go to Chiapas instead? He'd definitely be in favor... _Casey thought, but she immediately dismissed the thought, knowing that August 31 was far too late to change her mind about going to Hogwarts. Her sister Alex seemed to be sharing her anxiety.

"Grandpa, are you sure Floo Powder can get us all the way to England?" Casey heard Alex's voice tremble from the story below.

"Of course, m'ija," Her grandfather chuckled. This coaxed a smile to creep onto Casey's face. Grandpa's Irish accent made Spanish sound far more strange than it did when their grandmother had spoken it. Reluctantly, Casey padded down the cement stairs and stood next to the fireplace where their trunks stood stacked. In cages on top were Casey's quetzal, Fernando, and Alex's cat, Bernabe, both of which seemed more impatient to leave than Casey.

As she stood waiting, she weighed the pros and cons of going to Hogwarts. 'I'll finally fit in,' she thought. Her grey eyes and her pale skin distracted from her jet-black curls that cascaded down her back; she simply had never fit in amongst the Mayan people here in Guatemala. She looked much more like her father than Alex did, who had a little darker skin and brown eyes to match her stick straight black hair. What else did she have to look forward to? She had already been learning some of her grandmother's bruja magic as a child and already knew a lot, but she supposed learning wand magic would be cool, and she'd never gotten to make a potion before.

"Ready?" Her grandfather called as her sauntered out of the kitchen. "Who wants to go first?" Casey and Alex both glanced nervously at each other.

"I guess I can." Casey answered. She shuffled into the cramped old fireplace that hadn't been used for a real fire since her grandmother died. She steadied herself and her trunk as her grandfather handed her a scoop of Floo powder.

"Remember," Her grandfather placed a hand on her shoulder. "Be loud and clear and you'll end up there fine. You've done this before, you know how."

"We've never gone this far before!" Alex chirped uneasily.

"Just be loud and clear!" Their grandfather repeated.

Casey gripped her trunk tightly and sighed to steady her nerves.

"Three Broomsticks, London, England!" She shouted and tossed the green powder into the flames. The familiar feeling of being thrown and stretched down a long, glowing tunnel overwhelmed her. She struggled to breathe as she rushed, faster and faster, until she hit the sooty ground of a fireplace in the Three Broomsticks.

"That was much quicker than I thought..." She muttered as she threw herself forward out of the fireplace. Only seconds later, Alex landed in the fireplace followed quickly by their grandfather.

Casey looked around at the dark pub that was packed with witches and wizards. Their new life had begun.


	2. Chapter 2: The Hogwarts Express

Her heartbeat was going faster than she could ever remember as she clutched the trolley where he trunk was being wheeled with sweaty palms. Casey was being led by her grandfather through King's Cross with her sister. After a long day of shopping in Diagon Alley yesterday, Casey thought she'd feel a little less nervous about attending Hogwarts, but as she avoided the eye contact of muggles who were gawking at her caged quetzal, Fernando, she felt worse than ever.

She forced her shaking legs to stride fast enough to keep up with her surprisingly spry grandfather, who seemed oblivious to the glaring muggles.

"Here we are! Platform 9 and 3/4!" He exclaimed, and halted 20 feet in front of a small, blank barrier, nearly causing his grandchildren to plow into him.

"Grandpa..." Alex started, looking from her sister to her grandfather. "There's nothing there."

"Of course there isn't!" Their grandfather said. In his nostalgia, he seemed happier than ever. He hadn't been back to King's Cross since he graduated Hogwarts all those years ago. "If there were, the muggles would notice. Ah, look! Watch!" He pointed fervently at a small family with trolleys that had owls atop them. They had obviously done this before, because they ran right through the barrier and disappeared. Both Casey and Alex gasped.

"See? It's just on the other side there." Their grandfather chuckled at their amazement. "Go on."

As usual, Casey asserted herself as the leader, as she always had, being the two minutes older twin. She stepped forward tentatively and looked back at her grandfather.

"Do I have to run?" Her grandfather just laughed and shrugged.

_Very reassuring. _She thought angrily and she swallowed hard. Before she knew it, she was running and bracing herself to hit the stone barrier until-

She was greeted by a red steam engine and a large crowd of witches and wizards dressed in colorful outfits, kissing their children goodbye. As she stood frozen, her sister burst through the barrier and collided into her, causing them both to shriek and fall over.

"Are you two all right?" Their grandfather appeared behind them and helped them up.

"Grandpa," Casey couldn't help but smile. "It's beautiful. Is this...?"

"The Hogwarts Express!" Their grandfather beamed. "It hasn't changed a bit!"

Their fall, however, had brought the attention back to them. Two three boys rushed over to them, pointing at Fernando.

"What's that?" A black boy with dreadlocks shouted. On either side of him were two identical twins with bright red hair.

"It's...it's a quetzal." Casey stuttered, avoiding their eye contact and attempting to turn back to her grandfather.

"Where'd you get it?" one of the twins asked, but Casey's grandfather nudged her and her sister.

"You can talk with your new friends on the train. It will leave soon." He winked and bent to give the two girls a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you over Christmas if you'd like to come home. Send a letter with Fernando when you get there!" And at that, their grandfather apparated.

"Come on!" One of the twins said, tugging at the arm of Casey's robe. "You guys can sit in our compartment with us and tell us about your...er..."

"Quetzal." Casey muttered shyly and began to follow the twins and their friend into the train. "His name is Fernando."

"Wait," The dreaded boy turned as they walked. "Your accent is weird. Are you American?"

"Guatemalan." Alex said curtly.

"But we went to school in the US for a while, so kind of!" Casey interjected. Alex was much more stand-offish, and the boys didn't seem too bad. She wanted to make as many friends as possible, whether her sister did or not.

"Guatemalan?" One of the twins asked, flabbergasted. "How'd you get into Hogwarts?"

"Our grandfather went there when he was a kid." Casey finally managed to meet the eyes of the boys and smiled. "And our mother lived in England for a while. She always wanted us to go to Hogwarts."

"Cool. What are your names?" The dreaded boy asked.

Grateful that they didn't ask any further about their parents and why they lived with their grandfather, Casey said, "My name is Casey. Casey Volkova, and this is my sister Alexia."

"Alex," Alex corrected her, concentrating on stepping into the train. As they hustled through the corridors and jumped into the first empty compartment they could find, the dreaded boy turned and shook Casey's hand.

"My name is Lee Jordan." He turned to shake Alex's hand, but found that she was busying herself with her trunk and her cat, Bernabe.

"Don't worry, she's just nervous," Casey whispered. She then shifted her eyes to the twins.

"I'm Fred-"

"I'm George-"

"We're the Weasley twins." They finished together. Their friend Lee laughed as they shook hands with Casey and sat down.

"How'd you guys meet?" Casey asked as she sat down opposite of Lee.

"Just like you," Lee said. "I just met them."

"We're just so charming that you all are magnetized to us!" One of the twins, George, she thought, exclaimed.

"We're actually twins, too!" Casey said, gesturing to Alex.

"Really?" The other twin...Fred, probably, interjected. "You two actually look really different."

"We're not identical." Alex muttered, still adjusting Bernabe's cage.

"Yeah, and I'm actually a bit older." Casey bragged.

"By about 5 minutes." Alex scoffed, sitting back in her seat.

The twins and Lee laughed as Casey shrugged.

"Are you two first years?" Alex managed, finally settled and ready for conversation. Her face had even warmed to a gentle curiosity.

"Yeah, you too, right?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, we've never been up here before. It's exciting." Exciting was not exactly the word Casey would have said if she were being honest, but she didn't her new friends to know how scared she was.

"Do you know what house you'll be in?" Fred or George-how on earth was she to tell them apart?-asked.

"Uh," Casey looked to Alex. "What house was Grandpa in?"

"Slytherin, I think?" Alex said. "The one with the snake."

"Slytherin?" The same twin raised his eyebrows. "You don't want to be in Slytherin. Trust us, our brothers are in Hogwarts now. We know."

"Why not?" Casey asked.

"They're no good. They're evil." The other twin answered.

"Our grandpa is a perfectly good man." Alex shot defensively.

"Sure," One of the twins responded. "He probably is. But most of them aren't. You don't want to be in Slytherin, we're telling you." Lee must not have siblings in Hogwarts already either, Casey observed, because he was looking as bewildered and curious as Casey felt.

"Well, what house should we be in, then?" Alex persisted.

"Gryffindor." The other twin returned. "It's the house for the brave!"

"My parents were in Gryffindor." Lee said, and the twins cheered.

"Good man!" They shouted in unison.

"You'll be sure to be in Gryffindor with us, then!" The twin closer to Lee clapped him on the back while Lee smiled.

"Do people always end up in their parent's houses?" Casey asked, trying her best not to seem nervous.

"I don't think so." The twin next to her answered, furrowing his brow. "All of our brothers are in Gryffindor, and so were our parents, but I think that always happens. Wasn't our uncle Bilius a Hufflepuff, George?"

"Yeah, I think so." George answered with an identical expression on his face that indicated thinking. "And I'd bet anything Auntie Muriel was a Slytherin due to how evil she is." Casey flinched at the other mention of Slytherin. She knew she would probably end up in Slytherin...but she didn't think she was evil...and neither was her grandfather! What if she lost her new friends by being sorted into Slytherin and couldn't make any friends in Slytherin because they actually were evil?

"Casey," Fred woke her from her nervous thoughts. "Tell us more about your bird, Fernando."

Smiling Casey stood and let Fernando emerge from his cage. Knowing that he needed to impress new friends, Fernando showed off his green and red plumage by flying across the compartment and back onto Casey's shoulders.

"Wicked!" The twins shouted and all three boys jumped up to get a closer look.

_Maybe Hogwarts won't be so bad._ Casey thought.


	3. Chapter 3: The Sorting Ceremony

It wasn't long before the train pulled into the Hogsmeade station that the students pushed their way out of the train.

"Firs' years here!" A gruff voice shouted into the dark. "Firs' years over here! C'mon!" The voice was coming from the biggest man she'd ever seen with a large black beard. He directed the first year students away from the train toward a big black lake.

Casey gulped. She had never learned to swim. They wouldn't be swimming, would they?

"Relax," Alex said gently. She must have sensed Casey's anxiety, so she pointed toward the lake. "Look closer, there are boats." Casey sighed with mild relief, but she still wasn't thrilled. The boats looked tiny and fragile. As the students started piling into boats, the sisters clung to each other, searching for a boat that had two seats left.

"Come now," The giant, hairy man said. "Ye'll be together again when we ge' up teh the castle. Just pick a boat and climb in."

Whirling around, Casey picked the first boat she could, and it happened to contain Fred, George, and Lee.

"Well, look who couldn't get enough of us!" Fred joked, scooting over to make room for her.

"What can I say?" Casey smiled as she sat, finally safe in the boat. "I mean, what's not to like?"

"Spoken like a true friend!" George said. "If you're not in Slytherin, you're going to be one of us!"

"I hope you like pranks!" Fred exclaimed.

"Sure," Casey did her best to keep smiling, but the mention of Slytherin once again made her stomach jump. "I love 'em."

"We knew there was something good about you!" Lee smiled and the twins agreed, and they all began to look over the boat's edge to find the giant squid.

"There's really one in here?" Lee asked, leaning farther over the side. Casey wanted to ask them to sit back up for fear they'd tip the boat over, but she refrained, steadying her breaths.

"Yeah, our brother Charlie said so!"

"Is Charlie at Hogwarts now?"

"Yeah," George sat back up to answer her. "He's a seventh year now. He's the seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Our other brother, Bill, just finished last year."

"Then there's the family git, Percy." Fred called from where he sat, head still shockingly close to the dark water.

"He's a third year." George nodded. "If you want my advice, just don't talk to him. He's been known to bore people to death on more than on occasion."

"Then we have a younger brother, Ronald, and a little sister, Ginny." Fred said, finally sitting back up along with Lee.

"Wow, you guys have a big family." Lee marveled. "It's only me and my mum and dad."

"I only have my sister," Casey joined in. "She's probably in the same boat as Percy."

"No, she wasn't too bad." George shrugged. "Feisty and probably a Slytherin, but she wasn't a git boring like Percy."

"Do you think I'll be a Slytherin?" Casey asked, trying to disguise her anxiety as curiosity.

"You?" Fred exclaimed. "No way! You're a Gryffindor for sure. You're too cool to be a Slytherin."

"And if you're not a Gryffindor, you might be a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw." George said. "They're not bad either."

"Okay, cool." Casey sighed with relief. Hoping not only that the twins were right, but that they were also wrong about Alex. She didn't want to be in a different house than her.

And then she saw it, the Hogwarts Castle.

Casey had never seen something so magnificent before; it was something out of a fairy tale with its pointed towers and its glowing, golden windows.

"Wow." Lee gasped, as amazed as Casey was. Casey turned to look for her sister, but couldn't see her in any of the other boats.

As the boats reached the shore, the students climbed out and followed the giant man into the castle, scurrying to keep up. As they gathered in the entrance hall, Casey was shocked to see ghosts all over the castle. Living in a small town of primarily muggles, she had never really seen ghosts, and had only really heard about them from her grandfather. A stern witch stood in front of the group of first years and explained the houses of Hogwarts and that they were about to be sorted. As she turned and entered the Great Hall, Casey turned to Fred.

"How do they sort us?" Casey asked, not bothering to hide her nerves at this point, but Fred's smile was kinder than she expected.

"Don't worry," Fred reassured her. "You just wear the Sorting Hat."

"What?" Casey asked in disbelief. She was sure that this was one of the patented Weasley twin prank. "A hat? You can't be serious?" But before Fred could answer, they were being filed into the Great Hall.

Casey couldn't believe her eyes. There were floating candle everywhere under the ceiling, which appeared to be the sky and shown black and starry. There were four long tables filled with students and one long, high table at the front with professors. They were headed toward a small stool sitting before the staff table.

As they gathered in front of the stool, Casey recognized Alex's straight black hair and rushed to stand at her side.

"Do you believe this, Alex?" Casey whispered, gestured at the room around her. "This is amazing." Alex had a similar, enchanted smile on her face and she nodded. As she opened her mouth to respond, they were hushed and Professor McGonagall, the stern witch from the Entrance Hall came forward holding an old, dirty pointed hat.

"What is that?" Alex asked, puzzled.

"The Sorting Hat." Casey responded, in complete disbelief that Fred had been serious. They had to wear a hat? What was that going to prove?

Suddenly, a face formed in the hat and it opened its mouth and began to sing. Alex and Casey both stood, open-mouthed as it sang about the sorting ceremony and the Hogwarts houses. Casey turned and looked over her shoulder where she saw Lee with a look on his face that rivaled hers and Alex's, but Fred and George were snickering behind their hands at the other first years.

As the hat finished its song, the sorting ceremony began with Berry, Joseph, who was a Hufflepuff. One by one each first year was sorted into their respective houses. Casey regretted having her last name begin with a V.

Finally, "Jordan, Lee" was called after Gryffindor, Angelina Johnson. Lee burst through the crowd and sat on the stool. The hat settled on his head and waited a moment before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!" Casey clapped and cheered with the Gryffindors, smiling at Lee's relieved face.

When "Weasley, Fred" was called, he sauntered forward, appearing to be the only student who wasn't nervous for the sorting aside from his brother. Apparently he didn't need to be because the hat barely touched his head when it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" It was the same with George, and Casey cheered louder than ever. Now she needed to be in Gryffindor.

"Volkova, Alex" was the next called, and Alex stepped gracefully forward. As the hat was placed on her head, her eyes were obscured, but Casey could tell from her sister's grimace that she was nervous. Her sister sat for nearly a minute without saying a word, and Casey began to worry that maybe she and her sister couldn't be sorted at all. What if they were thrown out of Hogwarts completely for not being from Britain? As Casey began to fidget, the hat finally called, "SLYTHERIN!" Alex looked much more relieved than Casey felt and she smiled as she trotted toward the Slytherin table.

McGongall called, "Volkova, Casey" and Casey stumbled forward.

_This is it. _She thought, trembling. Before the hat obscured her eyes, she caught sight of her new friends at the Gryffindor table, smiling hopefully up at her.

Then all she could see was the inside of the hat.

_Ah, another pair of twins, I see. _The hat's voice said in her ear. Casey jumped. She hadn't been expected it to talk to her. Had it done this for everyone else?

_I see a lot of loyalty. Oh yes, very bold and brave, you are. You would make a good Gryffindor. _

_Yes! Gryffindor! _Casey thought with all her might.

_But there's also so much intelligence...and skill. Perhaps you would do well in Ravenclaw or Slytherin..._

_Please not Slytherin. _Casey thought, almost begged the hat. _I don't belong in Slytherin. _

_If you're sure. _The hat said. _Yes, you are very bold and I can see you have rigid morals. And you appear to be stubborn. Better be..._

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted throughout the hall. Casey felt warm relief rushing down her legs. She whipped off the hat and excitedly ran to the Gryffindor table, who were cheering heartily. She was so excited that she completely missed "Yapp, Jack" being sorted into Ravenclaw.

_No, Hogwarts really wouldn't be so bad at all. _Casey thought as she began to scoop mashed potatoes on her plate next to her three new friends and the rest of the Gryffindors. She had found a new home.


	4. Chapter 4: The Brains of the Operation

Over the last five years, Casey had grown to love Hogwarts as much as she dreamed she would. She grew close to the Weasley twins and Lee, spending every day with them planning pranks and inventing new potions, spells, and her favorite, prank-sweets. Fred and George were most often the masterminds behind their pranks and future products for the joke shop, both of the twins easily admitted that without Ms. Casey Volkova, they wouldn't have much of a joke-empire on Hogwarts. Casey was much more studious than the twins, and therefore had plenty of information on what was needed to form these products.

By her third year, both she and the Weasley twins tried out for the Quidditch team and made it-Casey as a Chaser and Fred and George as beaters. Lee, who wasn't much of a flier, became the commentator for the matches, giving their quad a sort of empire on quidditch at Hogwarts. Casey was the top of her class in potions and transfiguration, but much to her dismay, as she was incredibly competitive, she was only average at Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and had to struggle to achieve passing marks in Herbology, due to her staggering disinterest in the subject. Her nearly failing in herbology was a favorite topic of her twin sister, Alex, who achieved perfect marks in every class except Divination because "it's not an exact magic, you know. It's ridiculous."

Casey started off her second year (and third year and fourth year) with a staggering crush on Oliver Wood, though he never took much of interest in her. George, on the other hand, was absolutely smitten with Casey, but she never seemed to catch on, and George was forced to give up when she began dating a fifth-year Ravenclaw, Kiran Singh.

Casey's relationship with Kiran lasted for a year until he broke up with her a week before her O.W.L.s, claiming that it just wasn't working for him, and that he wanted to be single.

Of course, this left her heartbroken, and so she turned back to her friendship with Fred, George, and Lee.

Now nearing her sixth year, Casey woke in her home in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, annoyed by the calls of her quetzal bird, Fernando.

"I'm up," she muttered, throwing her blankets to the side and sat up. His chirps sounded like the whimpers of a small puppy, high pitched and repetitive.

"Cállate, Fernando." She snapped, walking over to the windowsill where he was perched. "What do you want?" Fernando held out his foot and tied to it was a Daily Prophet.

"A Prophet? How'd you get that?" She opened it up to read the giant headline, 'Scenes of Terror at the Quidditch World Cup'

"What?" Casey shouted, startling Fernando. "Death Eaters?" She got almost halfway through the article before she saw a clumsy scrawl of handwriting above the headline.

_We're fine. We knew if we didn't let you know, you'd do more harm than any Death Eater would. The match was brilliant, wish you had been there. See you tomorrow. -Fred. _

Casey shook her head with a slight smile. Fred was right, she would have been furious had they not told her that they were fine and found out about the attacks later on. She set the paper down and immediately went to go tell her grandfather the news.

Though they had always been close, Fred and Casey had grown significantly closer after her breakup with Kiran. In fact, over the summer she and Fred wrote each other multiple times a week, so much so that George stopped writing his portions of the letters. At the beginning of the summer, Casey started to wonder if maybe her feelings for Fred were a little too warm and a little less friendly, but she dismissed the thought, attributing her crush on Fred to be an after-effect of her breakup and nothing more.

"Death Eaters?" Casey's grandfather asked. "There could not have been Death Eaters!"

"It's what the Prophet said, Grandpa," Casey told her grandfather, sitting down next to him for a breakfast of toast. He sipped his coffee and fervently shook his head. As he was a brother to one of the very first Death Eaters, Casey had always wanted to hear about the Death Eaters and the first wizarding war from her grandfather. Each time it was brought up, however, he more or less refused the subject.

"I left that bloody country for a reason." He would state, and either change the subject or leave the room altogether.

"It says they were wearing the masks and hoods and terrorizing muggles," Alex said as she read the paper next to them. "That doesn't mean they were necessarily Death Eaters."

"And even if they were," Their grandfather stabbed, pointing at them with a piece of toast. "They have no power anymore. They're finished."

"How do you know that, though, Grandpa?" Casey continued despite the sharp kick from Alex under the table. "Just because they haven't been out and about killing people doesn't mean they're finished. Dumbledore says-"

"You-know-who is finished and so are the Death Eaters," Their grandfather shook his head. "I left that bloody country to get away from that war, I'm not going to let it bother me after it's over." And at that, he rose from his chair and staggered out of the kitchen, toast still in his hand.

"Good going," Alex muttered. "Like he needs to be riled up any more."

Their grandfather's health was beginning to deteriorate in his old age. He was getting so bad that he had to hire a neighbor to come over and help him take care of himself when Casey and Alex were gone at Hogwarts. There were some days when what he said didn't make much sense or got upset for almost no reason.

After lunch that day, she set about packing for the Burrow, where she had agreed to spend the last week before school. As she busied herself packing, her sister Alex called from her room.

"Did you get the Hogwarts letters?"

"Yeah, why?" Casey said, looking up from her trunk. "Didn't you?"

"I did." Alex said, coming in with a piece of parchment. "But it says we need dress robes. Why would we need dress robes? We've never needed them before." Casey took a second look at the Hogwarts letter.

"Huh. Beats me." She shrugged. "I don't even think I'm going to get them, honestly."

"Casey, it says they're required." Alex reminded her, but Casey shook her head.

"I'm trying to save money, okay? I'm not getting them unless I need them."

"Come on!" Alex said huffily. "You have plenty of money. And even if you didn't, we come from one of the richest wizarding families in Britain, Grandpa would give you money." Casey just shook her head.

"I don't need them! And if it turns out I do, I'll get them in Hogsmeade or something. I already have my books ordered, I'm not going to go to Diagon Alley for dress robes."

The truth was that Casey had been saving her galleons for a few years to help Fred and George with the joke shop. Money was always a sensitive matter between them, especially since the Weasleys were poor and Casey came from a very rich family.

Casey finished packing and got ready to use the Floo Network to get to the Burrow.

"Goodbye, Grandpa!" She said as she kissed her grandfather on the cheek. "I promise I'll be home for Christmas this year."

"Oh, don't count your owls before they're delivered!" Her grandfather chirped, winking. "You may not want to leave Hogwarts this year!"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't say!" He smiled again. "Just enjoy yourself. I'll see you soon enough!" Confused, Casey turned to her sister. As she gave her a hug goodbye she whispered into her ear, "Make sure he's all right."

"I will." Alex reassured her. "I'll see you in a while! Tell the twins I say hi!"

Before she knew it, she was standing in the Weasley's fireplace and the sky was that of a sunset rather than a sunny noon.

"Hello, Weasleys!" She called to the seemingly empty house. Soon enough, however, Mrs. Weasley bustled around the corner with a basket of clothes in her arms.

"Casey, darling!" She set down the clothing and pulled her into her patented Mother-Weasley hugs. "How have you been?"

"I'm good, Mrs. Weasley! How are you?"

"Fine, darling. Fine!" She chirped. "The boys are out back playing quidditch with Ginny before dinner. They've been waiting for you, so I expect they'll be excited to see you."

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley!" Casey rushed out to the gardens, but found that the twins were all running around and chasing the gnomes instead of playing quidditch. George was facing her, and his face lit up with delight when he saw her, but she held her finger to mouth, gesturing for him to keep quiet. George caught the hint and immediately went back to chasing a troll, watching Casey out of the corner of his eye.

Never the mastermind of pranks, Casey wasn't quite sure what to do to Fred. Here, she found herself with a perfect opportunity to prank Fred, and nothing to prank him with. Desperately, she looked around, but there was no use. She'd just have to use magic. She wouldn't be 17 until November, but she knew one spell wouldn't b e much harm in a house full of witches and wizards. For all the ministry knew, it could be Mrs. Weasley performing the spell. She hastily pulled out her wand as Fred picked up a struggling gnome. As he flung the gnome,aiming to get it over the garden fence, she pointed her wand to the top of the garden fence where the gnome would go over and whispered "Protego."

The gnome hit the invisible barrier and bounced back into the garden, quickly scrambling to its feet and scurrying away into the bushes.

"What in the bloody hell," Fred muttered, stepping forward to see what had blocked the gnome.

"Looks like you've lost your touch, Freddie." Casey said. Fred wheeled around and beamed at Casey.

"Casey! I should have known." He bounded forward and scooped her into a hug. "It's great to see you!"

"I would say the same," Casey said. "But now that I've seen how lousy you are at throwing gnomes, I've reconsidered. You're a weakling."

"Oh, come now, don't you have anything better than to insult my masculinity?" Fred said, pulling away from her but still not quite letting her go.

"Shh," Casey hushed him, pushing him away. "Give me to the more manly twin." She hugged George, but noticed that George did not hang on like Fred did.

"How was the match?" Casey asked. "Crazy, what happened, huh? What was it like?"

"It was weird." George said, looking shiftily at Fred.

"Yeah, it was kind of scary. There was a Dark Mark and everything." Fred nodded, but there was something strange about his tone. Casey, having spent so much time with them over the years could sense the change in atmosphere.

"What?" Casey stepped closer to them. "What happened? Why are you acting weird?" The twins exchanged grim looks and looked back at Casey, neither one of them wanting to say.

"What?" Casey asked again. "Why won't you tell me? Is everything okay?"

"Of course everything is okay." Fred reassured her.

"It's not a big deal," George said. "It's just that..."

"We bet all our money on the match." Fred finished.

"Aw, guys, come on!" Casey scolded them. They had been saving for the joke shop, but the twins were never quite good at doing their saving, but stubbornly refused to let Casey pay for things or lend them money. "You bet _all_ of it? Were you really that sure that you'd win?"

"No, listen, we bet that Ireland would win but Krum would catch the snitch."

"Are you kidding me?" Casey shouted, startling a few gnomes. "How could you honestly think that would happen, and be so sure that you bet all of your money?"

"Didn't you hear?" Fred asked. "That's what happened! Krum got the snitch but Ireland still won, 170 to 160."

"Really? That's insane!" Casey said. "Then what's the problem?"

"It's the bloke who took our money." George explained. "Ludo Bagman. He conned us. He gave us Leprechaun gold after the match and it disappeared."

"We thought it was just a mistake at first," Fred said. "But he ignored us when we tried to tell him that night, and now he won't answer our letter."

By now it had gotten dark, and Mrs. Weasley was calling them inside to have dinner.

"How much did you bet, then?" Casey asked Fred as they headed inside.

"37 galleons, 15 sickles, and 3 knuts." Fred sighed. "Plus a joke wand."

"It could be worse." Casey said brightly, giving Fred a nudge on the arm.

"For you, maybe." Fred said without looking at her. Casey opened her mouth to respond, but they were hurried inside and to the dinner table by Mrs. Weasley.

After enjoying a great dinner with the Weasley family, Harry, and Hermione, everyone headed up to bed.

"Are you coming to bed, Casey?" Hermione asked. She usually slept in Ginny's room with Ginny and Hermione.

"I will soon." Casey answered her. "It's still afternoon in my brain. Floo-network lag, you could call it."

"I'll stay up with you." Fred offered. "We can catch up."

"Catch up?" Casey laughed. "Fred, we wrote each other every week this summer. What on earth do we need to catch up on?"

"All right, you got me." Fred admitted sarcastically. "I just needed to keep an eye on you and make sure you don't rob the house and murder the family."

"You called my long-con, then?" Casey teased back.

"Oh, yes." Fred laughed as they sat down on the couch in the Burrow's family room. "I knew there was no way that someone like you would actually want to spend so much time with George and I. Obviously you have ulterior motives. I've got to keep an eye on you while I still can."

"Whatever, Fred." The two of them continued to talk about various topics until Fred's eyes began to droop.

"You can go to sleep, Fred." Casey reminded him. "I'll probably try and get some sleep soon, too."

"What? And let you have the freedom to destroy the house?" Fred shook his head to wake himself up. "Not a chance, Volkova."

"All right." Casey said. "Fred, you know I'll lend you and George that 37 galleons, at le-"

"No." Fred said curtly.

"Come on, Fred." Casey reasoned. "Only until you guys can pay me back. I really don't mind. So then you can use it for the joke shop."

"No, Casey." Fred repeated. "We've had this argument before. You can help out with your share, and that's fine, but you're not allowed to pay for our portion."

"It's only 37 galleons!" Casey said, but when Fred raised his eyebrows she stopped. "I just mean in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter if I lend you-"

"That's the point, Casey. It's only 37 galleons." Fred snapped, a little harshly. "That was our entire savings. To you, it's only 37 galleons. It's different for you. But we need to earn this money. We need to earn our joke shop." Fred explained. He was lightly scowling but he remained close to Casey, maybe even a little closer than usual.

"I'm sorry, Fred." Casey backed off. "I understand. I just want to help."

"I know you do," Fred said. "But, honestly, who knows if we can even make the joke shop happen?"

"What are you even saying?"

"I mean, Mum found all our Ton-Toffees and our order forms and she destroyed them." Fred said. "She really doesn't want this to happen, and if we keep having setbacks like this, it may never happen. It might just be a stupid idea."

"Fred Weasley." Casey said sternly. "It's not a stupid idea. It's a great idea. You two have wanted this forever and you're good at it! You can't give up because of a few setbacks. Besides, I'm a part of this now, too, and I say you're not allowed to give up on this." Fred smiled and slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"I knew there was a reason we kept you around."

"Other than the fact that I'm the brains of the operation?" Casey rested her head on Fred's shoulder.

"Yeah, other than that." Fred muttered softly as he let his head fall onto hers.


	5. Chapter 5: Watch and Learn, Weasley

Casey was in the Weasley's garden chasing after gnomes. There were more than she'd ever seen in one place before, but no matter how quickly she moved, she couldn't quite get her hands on one.

"Come on..." She muttered, frustrated. Normally she was very good at catching gnomes, but it was no use. As she launched at another gnome she accidentally grabbed a leg that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Excuse me!" A pompous, yet familiar voice huffed. When Casey looked up, she saw that she was clutching Percy Weasley's leg, and he was decked out in a black muggle tuxedo.

"I'm sorry, Perce," Casey said as she straightened up. "What are you doing dressed like that?"

"I'm waiting for Fred," Percy stated, brushing off his pant-leg. "He's late for his dance lesson."

"Dance lesson?" Casey laughed. "Why in the bloody hell is he getting dance lessons?" Percy raised an eyebrow at her.

"You don't know?"

"What do you mean?" Casey asked, growing more and more confused. As she looked around, there were even more gnomes crawling around the garden...so many that there seemed to be more gnomes than plants.

"He's preparing to take you dancing," Percy told her, shaking his head in disbelief. "But I can see how much it means to you, as you've already forgotten. You should be ashamed." Percy's tone was more angry and disappointed than she'd ever heard, and that was saying something.

"What? Percy, I don't know what you're talking about!"

"He loves you, you know." Percy continued. Before Casey could answer, a gnome climbed up her leg and was trying to bite her knee. Before she knew it, there were hundreds of gnomes crawling on her and she had to kick her legs out rapidly to get them off.

"Percy, help me!" She shouted, but when she looked to him for assistance, he was gone. Standing in his place was her grandfather.

"I told you, Casey!" He shouted to her. "The Death Eaters are finished! But you insisted, Casey, and you've brought this on yourself." She now was being consumed by a giant hoard gnomes and could not resist them.

"Grandpa! Help me!" She shouted, but when she looked to him, George's voice came from his mouth.

"What are you two doing?"

Casey's eyes opened to see George standing in front of her in the Weasley's living room."

"What?" She grumbled. As she came out of her dream, she realized that she was leaning on Fred's shoulder and his head on hers. A warm feeling fluttered in her chest until she realized that George was still standing in front of them and that feeling transformed into embarrassment.

"Nothing." She blurted, wrenching her head out from under Fred's causing his head to droop and for him to snap awake.

"Huh?" Fred blinked rapidly.

"Did you guys sleep out here all night?" George asked, smirking devilishly.

"It was an accident." Casey massaged her sore neck. "We were talking and we just fell asleep, I guess."

"You guess?" George's grin widened. "You two looked awfully cozy."

"Bugger off," Fred muttered as he stood up. "Mum making breakfast yet?" He asked nonchalantly, but Casey could tell that his tone was still a little off.

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen." George answered and Fred walked into the kitchen a little too quickly. Casey stood up to go to Ginny's room and get a change of clothing but George stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

"What was that?" He had a curious sparkle in his eye to match his devious grin.

"Nothing, George," Casey insisted, sidling passed him. "We're friends, you know that." She couldn't quite give him eye contact as she said it.

"That's what I thought," George said, following her through the hall. "But you've never cuddled on the couch like that with me, have you?"

"Well, maybe if you bathed for once, you git." Casey mumbled as she entered Ginny's room and snapped the door shut behind her.

There were three beds squished into Ginny's room. Ginny and Hermione were perched on one, staring back at Casey.

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Casey could feel her cheeks burning red. She dove toward her trunk and distracted herself by digging for an outfit.

_What am I? Twelve? _She thought. _It's not like we were kissing. My head was on his shoulder. Big deal. _However, her thoughts were not enough to calm her. She kind of had been cuddling with Fred, like George said, and she couldn't help but realize that had been really nice. She was so lost in thought she barely noticed Hermione and Ginny leaving the room.

"Casey," Ginny called to her before she left the doorway. "Mum said it's time for breakfast."

"Right," Casey said, standing up quickly and striding to the door. "Coming."

As she sat with the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione for breakfast, she noticed that everything seemed as normal as ever. There was cheerful chatter throughout breakfast and Fred and George were tossing bits of sausage back and forth to each other and attempting to catch the pieces in their mouths.

"That's enough, boys," Mrs. Weasley chided them. "You're not children! Act your age!"

"We are acting our age, Mum!" George said after swallowing a piece of sausage that he caught in an expert dive. He picked up a piece of his own sausage and aimed it toward Fred.

"Yeah, Mum," Fred chirped as he barely missed the bit of sausage that George lobbed at him. "Didn't you say how we were only children the other day? When the Death Eaters almost got us?"

"You wouldn't be scolding us about sausages if the Death Eaters had gotten us." George reminded his mother in mock-seriousness. "You just remember that."

"Don't joke about that," Mrs. Weasley said, though she didn't look angry.

As they finished breakfast, Ron suggested that they go out to the garden and play quidditch. Fred, George, Ron, and Harry went to fetch brooms while Ron argued with Ginny whether she could join their game or not.

"Aren't you going to play?" Harry asked Casey as he appeared with his Firebolt.

"Nah, not today." Casey said. "I'll just keep score, I'm still pretty tired."

"Wonder why..." George muttered from behind her. Fred, who was standing next to him, punched him on the shoulder.

"Leave her alone, you prat." Fred said. "Come on, I'll have grown a beard before we actually get out there."

The four boys let Ginny take turns in replacing one of them between each goal, while Hermione sat in the shade with one of her schoolbooks and Casey kept watch. Casey made a point to watch Fred as he played.

She'd been best friends with both Fred and George since she was 11 years old, and here she was, nearly 17 and blushing like mad every time Fred so much as looked at her.

_I_ _can't possibly like him. _Casey thought. _After all of these years? Why now? _But as she watched him fly around the field, his bright red hair whipping about, a beaming grin on his face. Fred _had _sent her weekly letters this summer, most of the time for no reason, just to check how she was doing and see what she was up to peppered with little bits of information on the progress of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Though George had been supportive when she went through her breakup last year, it had been Fred who stayed up late with her to talk with her, making her laugh and even making sure she got sleep and ate regularly. At first Casey had thought Fred wasn't being himself, but what if that's who Fred really was? What if Fred was naturally as caring as he appeared last year? Not only that, but Fred definitely acted a lot different toward her than George does, holding her longer during hugs, offering to stay up with her and cuddling with her on the couch. Casey found herself falling into a rapid succession of thoughts. Fred had always been funny, but until recently she'd never really paid attention to how sweet and genuine his smile was or how his arm muscles flexed while playing quidditch...

Casey forced herself to look away from Fred. After all, she was being ridiculous. Fred was her best friend, so of course he was going to care about her. That didn't mean he was in love with her.

"You all right there, Volkova?" Casey hadn't noticed George come and sit next to her, causing Casey to jump and nearly scream. "Relax, I didn't mean to scare you."

"You're going to give me a heart attack, George." She said, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"Sorry, I'll make sure to approach you with more caution next time," George chuckled. "Hey, sorry if I embarrassed you this morning-not that you shouldn't have been embarrassed because you woke up next to the less-attractive twin-but I wanted to ask...is there something there?"

"What do you mean?" Casey asked, looking back up at the quidditch game and knowing exactly what George meant.

"I mean, did I see something more serious than the two of you asleep on the couch?" George persisted. "I noticed that you guys have been spending a lot more time together and I've suspected that Fred fancied you, but I didn't realize that there was anything actually going on between you two-"

"There isn't anything going on," Casey said quickly, looking back at George. "I told you, Fred's my friend. We fell asleep next to each other because we were talking, that's it. Merlin's beard, George, we're not kids in the playground! Let's not play the who's-got-a-crush-on-whom game."

"Hey, I was only asking," George smirked. "You're the one getting so defensive."

"George," Casey sighed. "I'm just saying that I don't like Fred and Fred doesn't like me. Do you understand?"

"I wouldn't be so sure," George stood up to join the quidditch game. "Just pay attention to how he looks at you next time, okay?"

As he flew back into the game to replace Ginny, Casey remained under the tree, exasperated. Hermione, who had politely pretended she hadn't heard the conversation next to her, looked up.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Fred did fancy you, Casey," She said softly. "I mean, he's always much kinder to you than he is to everyone else, and..." But Hermione trailed off when Casey glared back at her.

"We're friends, Hermione," Casey grumbled. "I don't know why that's so hard for people to understand.

"I understand!" Hermione piped. "Sorry, I just meant to say that I wouldn't be surprised-"

"No, it's fine." Casey shook her head. "Sorry Hermione. I'm just tired, that's all."

It was only a few minutes until it was Fred's turn to sit out from the game of Quidditch.

"It was a good idea for you to sit this one out, Case." Fred told her as he sat next to her. "This is the best I've played all year. I'd just embarrass you out there." Casey was focusing so much on how little space there was between them that she couldn't figure out how to respond.

"Uh...really?" She fumbled, somehow managing to meet his eyes but then deciding that that was a bad idea a split second later and shifted her eyes downward. She could see Hermione hiding a smirk next to her. Trying to recover, she cleared her throat. "I didn't think your performance was anything special...in fact, I've seen children play better quidditch than what I saw from the likes of you today."

"Are you watching the right game?" Fred laughed. "Or are you just blind? You just don't want to admit that not only am I an amazing Beater, but I'm a better Chaser than you are too." Looking into Fred's eyes again, Casey began to wonder why she had never paid attention to their shade of brown. It was a beautiful, almost golden autumn color.

"Casey, you all right?" Fred asked, his brow furrowing. "You look like you've been hit with a confundus charm." Casey immediately snapped out of it.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She assured him.

"You've got some grass in your hair." Fred pointed out, but instead of giving her time to find it herself, he reached over and gently pulled the blade of grass from her hair and lightly brushed the locks away from her face. A shiver ran through her body and she fought an intense urge to blush.

"Got it." Fred stated with a little smile. Casey stared at him open-mouthed for a moment before she looked away and quickly ran a hand through her hair. Once again, she cleared her throat, searching for a way to appear less awkward.

"You know," She recovered, "Someone ought to show you how to really play Quidditch. Give me your broom."

"Be my guest!" Fred exclaimed, handing her his broom.

"Now, watch and learn, Weasley." She remarked, climbing onto the broom and immediately taking off and soaring through the air.

_That was too close for comfort, _She thought. _Far too close._


	6. Chapter 6: The Triwizard Tournament

The last week at the Burrow breezed by without anything eventful other than more Quidditch matches in the sunny garden and secretive planning for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Casey had calmed down a little, convincing herself once again that she had imagined any romantic feelings for Fred-though she couldn't help but notice that his smile was just a bit different when aimed toward her.

September 1 was rainy and overcast as they hauled their trunks out to ministry cars lent to them to take the Weasleys, Casey, Harry, and Hermione to King's Cross.

"These are roomy, aren't they? You really have to give Muggles credit." Mrs. Weasley said as she and Ginny got into a front seat of a car. Casey and Hermione exchanged glances in the back seat, stifling laughter because they knew very well that there were extension charms on the cars to make them bigger on the inside. The whole lot of them managed to fit into the ministry car, a feat that Casey didn't have the heart to tell Mrs. Weasley could not have done with even two ordinary Muggle cars.

After a long journey to London and a lot of chaotic bustling through King's Cross, they'd finally made it to the Hogwarts Express.

"All right, you know you're all welcome home for Christmas, Harry, Hermione, Casey, you're included," Mrs. Weasley said as she hugged and kissed them all goodbye. "But I expect you'll be wanting to stay at Hogwarts this year." Casey raised her eyebrows. Her grandfather had said the same thing.

"What's going on?" The twins moaned in unison. All week Percy, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie had all been hinting that something special was happening at Hogwarts this year, but no one would say what exactly it was.

"No, no, you';ll know soon enough." Mrs. Weasley insisted. "Off you go, now, or you'll miss the train."

"That's really weird," Casey murmured to Fred and George as they settled into an empty compartment. "My grandpa had said the same thing when I told him I was coming back for Christmas."

"Even your grandfather knows?" George exclaimed. "They'd better tell us right away."

"I'm sure they will," Fred said. "From the way Crouch and Bagman were talking at the match, it's supposed to be a big deal."

"Speaking of Bagman," Casey started. "Heard anything from him?" Both Fred and George shook their heads sulkily.

"Not a word." George said. "But he's involved with whatever is going on this year, right? He's bound to be around Hogwarts this year."

"True!" Fred exclaimed. "He'll have to talk to us face-to-face."

At that moment, Lee burst into the compartment and greeted them jovially.

"How about that match?" Lee exclaimed as he settled in next to George. "Sorry you didn't see it, Case, it was amazing!"

"So I've heard," She chuckled. Lee went on to animatedly relive the match with Fred and George while Casey listened. She did her best to look entertained, but she had heard several play-by-plays from the entire Weasley family and Harry several times in the past week. Just as the crowd in the corridor started to thin, their compartment door opened and two seventh year Ravenclaws stood in the door way, one of which was Casey's ex, a tall handsome indian man, Kiran Singh. A metallic feeling of anxiety rushed down from Casey's chest down to her legs as she and Kiran locked eyes. Kiran immediately looked away.

"Right, this one's full," He murmured to the blonde girl next to him, who giggled nervously. "Sorry." Kiran stated as the two turned and left the compartment, shutting the door with a snap.

An awkward silence flooded the compartment and Casey kept her gaze frozen on the shut compartment door, a feeling of dread panging in her stomach. As what she saw began to sink in, she started to feel the sting of tears in her eyes. She rapidly turned to stare straight forward, blinking the tears back, determined not to cry in front of Lee and the twins.

"He's a prat," Fred murmured softly next to her. Casey nodded, still blinking back tears. Fred reached over and placed his hand on hers and lightly squeezed it. "Really."

"I know." Casey finally managed, successfully keeping her cheeks dry and clearing her throat. "I'm fine." She smiled reluctantly at Fred, but pulled her hand away from his. Fred opened his mouth to say more, but Casey looked back up at Lee and George.

"How about that Wronski Feint, guys?" She said softly. At this, both Lee and George loosened again, glad for the conversation to return to something as comfortable as quidditch.

"Oi, Case, you should have seen it!" Lee exclaimed. "It was absolutely wicked! That bloke can fly!" Casey let Lee, George, and Fred continue their quidditch conversation, but Fred was more quiet than normal, stealing glances at Casey every now and then.

That had been the first time she'd really seen Kiran since they had broken up in the spring, and now he was with a girl she didn't even know before..._was that his girlfriend? _Casey couldn't stop the thought and it caused an avalanche in her chest.

_He broke up with me because he couldn't handle a relationship anymore, and he appears with some dumb blonde! _Casey thought. _What an ass! _She once again fought to keep her negative thoughts from causing her to cry, but she was less successful this time. As the first tear fled down her cheek, she shot out of her seat and tore out of the compartment. The only person she could imagine talking to about this was her sister, Alex. Drying the few tears that she had let fall, she immediately started looking through the compartment windows for her sister. After going through nearly every department, she recognized Alex's dark, straight hair so she opened up the door.

"Alex?" Casey called, getting the attention of everyone in the compartment.

"Hey Case!" She said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, of course." Alex stood up to exit the compartment. "Are you okay?" Casey nodded and pulled Alex out into the corridor with her.

"I just saw Kiran." Casey blurted, "He was with a girl."

"Oh," Alex nodded. "Abigail Greengrass." She nearly whispered.

"You knew?" Casey snapped, tears forming again. "Why didn't-"

"Casey, I know they're friends." Alex said carefully. "That's all."

"He walked into my compartment with her because they didn't realize I was there." Casey told her. "It _looked _like they were together."

"Casey," Alex sighed. "Just because she was with him doesn't mean they're dating. Honestly they could just be friends. I know that you're still hurt, and that's okay...but even if she were dating him, he's not yours anymore." Alex's words made Casey's heart hurt ache a little more, but she knew Alex was right. She always seemed to be right about these kind of things.

"I know, but why'd he have to come into my compartment with that dumb blonde?"

"Hey," Alex placed a kind hand on her shoulder. "Don't hate her because of something he did to you. _He's _the asshole, but you don't know her." Alex reminded her. "But it's okay for you to be upset, especially if you just saw him again for the first time. Those are your feelings and they're valid."

"Thanks," Casey mumbled, letting a few tears stream down her face. Alex pulled her into a rare hug; neither sister had ever been very touchy.

"Just ignore him," Alex told her as she lightly patted her back. "You're better than him and you know that. Show him that." They pulled away and Casey managed a smile.

"Thanks. Really." Casey said. "How's Grandpa?"

"Fine," Alex smiled. "He actually seemed a lot better than usual when I left. Moving around a lot more, and he seemed happier."

"Good..." Casey said, clearing her throat. "Okay, I should get back. I'm missing a very rousing conversation about the World Cup."

"Don't want to miss that," Alex joked. "Let me know if you need to talk again."

"I will, thanks again."

Casey now felt much more stable after what Alex had told said, but she didn't fdeel entirely better. A dull sinking feeling in her heart had replaced the sharp pangs and she had the overwhelming desire to hide or just go to sleep. As she neared her compartment, she saw Fred coming out of it.

"There you are!" He said when he saw her. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I can go back..." He trailed off, gesturing back at the door. The concern on his face was enough to bring a smile to her face.

"I'm okay," She said. "Thanks, Fred."

"No problem." Fred murmured, and he closed the distance between them and embraced her.

"He really is a prat, Casey." Fred said seriously. "You deserve better."

"What? Like you?" Casey joked before she realized what she was saying. There was a slight pause before Fred laughed.

"Hah, please." He said as the two of them broke away from each other. "I'm out of your league."

"A girl can dream, can't she?" Casey feigned a high-pitched swooning voice.

"Yeah, whatever." Fred said, nudging her. "You're sure you're okay, then?"

"I am, Fred." She looked into his eyes and smiled pointedly. "Thank you. Really. It's been really nice to have your support during all this rubbish."

"Anytime," Fred said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I promise. Now, we'd better get back inside or George'll have a hey-day again."

* * *

It was great to finally get back to Hogwarts and be greeted be the golden light of the Great Hall. Casey silently chattered with Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet during the Sorting Ceremony.

"Are you the Quidditch captain this year, Angelina?" Casey asked. "With Wood being gone, I thought you'd be the best candidate."

"No, unfortunately not." Angelina shook her head. "I thought maybe it'd be one of you two then."

"It's not me..." Alicia said, confused. "Who could it be? One of the twins?"

"No, it wasn't them." Casey told them. "They'd never have let me forget it if that were the case."

"Who could it be then? Potter's too young." Angelina asked. Alicia and Casey shrugged.

"Maybe McGonagall hasn't decided yet."

Food appeared on their plates as the sorting finished and they began to devour the food around them.

"Fred, George, do you have any idea who'll be quidditch captain this year?" Angelina asked them.

"We thought it'd be you." Fred and George said in unison.

"Well, it's not, and apparently it's not you two, Alicia, or Casey either."

"It couldn't be Harry, could it?" Alicia asked again.

"No, Harry's too young." Fred remarked.

"We'll just have to talk to McGonagall about it tomorrow," Casey said, scooping some potatoes onto her plate.

"Right, let's talk business Volkova." George said in mock-sternness. Casey straightened.

"Roger that," Casey said, and when George raised his eyebrows she clarified, "I'm listening."

"We were wondering about the progress of the invisibility potions you're working on." Fred said.

"I don't know, guys," Casey shook her head. "It's definitely progressing better than I thought, but it's going to be a while before we can test it. I really don't know if we can pull of an invisibility _potion_." Casey told them. Casey had become an incredible potioneer over the years and was attempting to produce a potion that could make the drinker invisible. After turning it into a potion, the twins thought it may be possible to sell it and make invisibility more accessible than it already was because invisibility was usually only achieved through invisibility cloaks, which were rare and unreliable, and disillusionment charms, which were difficult to perform.

"If anyone can do it, you can!" Fred encouraged her before taking a rather large bite of shepherd's pie.

"We'll see." Casey said. "But I think I've perfected the love potion, and if I did it right, it should be even stronger than Amortentia...the only problem is that we're going to have to find someone willing to test it."

"What do you mean?" George asked. "You've got three people right here." He gestured at him, Fred, and Lee.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Casey chuckled. "If something goes wrong and I have to deal with you lugs being in love with me forever?" At that moment, she and George made eye contact and she could see what he was thinking: one of them already was. Casey rolled her eyes.

After dinner, Dumbledore began talking about the usual back-to-school business and Casey began to feel more tired than ever. Had there not been suddenly an uproar of chatter and cries, she may have zoned out Dumbledore's entire speech.

"What?" Casey asked. "What happened?"

"Dumbledore just said there'd be no quidditch this year!" Angelina exclaimed, outraged.

"What?" Casey exclaimed, but Dumbledore had paused, waiting for silence. When it quieted down, he continued.

"There will be no quidditch this year because this year Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament for the first time in 200 years."

There was some confused chatter that followed.

"The Tri-Wizard tournament is composed of three challenging tasks for three students to compete in, one from each of the three magic schools of Europe who have had this partnership since their founding. These schools are Hogwarts, of course, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang."

As Dumbledore explained the tournament further, wonderment grew in the eyes of the students. When Dumbledore mentioned that there would be a reward of 1,000 galleons in prize money, the twins exchanged enthusiastic looks.

"However, new safety measures have been added this year," Dumbledore continued. "No student under the age of 17 will be eligible for the tournament." Once again there was an angry outburst.

"No way!" George shouted.

"That's not fair!" Fred yelled. "We'll be 17 in April! We should be able to do it!"

"There will be an impartial judge that will choose the champions, and, be warned. You will not be able to fool them." Dumbledore said.

Later, as they were walking back up to the common room, Fred and George were devising plans to enter the tournament.

"You can't tell me you're honestly going to try and enter!" Casey exclaimed.

"Of course we are!" Fred answered. "We'd have to be mad not to try! 1,000 Galleons, Casey!"

"You're going to risk your lives for money?" Casey raised an incredulous eyebrow. "I can't believe you two. Those tasks are bound to be dangerous...people have died in them."

"You don't have to enter, Casey," George said. "But we're going to. So you're with us, or you aren't."

"I'm not with you." Casey said, shaking your heads. "And I really think that you guys should consider not trying to enter."

"All right, _Hermione_," Fred teased. "We'll be sure to do some thinking right after we've finished our homework-"

"And cleaned our room!" George blurted, laughing.

"Piss off." Casey muttered. "I'm serious."

"Come now, Case," Fred said, placing his arm around her shoulders. "We'll be fine."

Casey pushed his arm off of her. "You don't know that, Fred. You'll need some serious skill in magic to get by those tasks-"

"Oh, so you think we won't be good enough?" George challenged her, not smiling anymore.

"No, that's not it," She insisted as they climbed through the portrait hole behind some fifth years. "I just mean that the tasks are meant for seventh years, people who are ready to take their N.E.W.T.s!"

"Hear that, Fred?" George looked to his brother. "We've got an actress for a best friend. I thought her impression of Hermione was pretty good, but now this impression of Mum is spot on." On the last two words there was an almost stinging anger. Fred's face was much less furious than George's, but Casey knew that Fred was definitely not happy about her comments either.

"All right, Volkova." George said as he headed toward the staircase to the boys' dormitory. "If you think you're so much better than us with all of your 'magical skill,' why don't you enter? Show us what you've got."

"That's not-" Casey tried to utter, but Fred and George grimaced at her and headed up the staircase. Casey muttered a curse word and shook her head. She'd apologize tomorrow.

Casey started getting ready for bed when Angelina and Alicia entered the dormitory.

"Going to bed so early?" Alicia asked. "Thought you'd be gallavanting around with the Weasleys."

"Is it just me," Angelina said with laughter in her voice. "Or are they getting even more attractive as they get older?"

"I'd say!" Alicia agreed with a giggle. "It looks like they've gained some muscle over the summer." Casey blushed and smiled at the fact that she wasn't the only one who had noticed. Both girls glanced at her and noticed the expression on her face.

"You think so, too, don't you?" Angelina asked enthusiastically.

"I mean," Casey said, avoiding eye contact and organizing her trunk. "I suppose. I've grown up with them and gone to their house every year. I can't really be attracted to them."

"Oh shut it!" Angelina giggled.

"Your tone's not very convincing Ms. Casey." Alicia sauntered over to her. "Admit it, you find them attractive."

"I can appreciate-" Casey said, but Angelina interrupted her.

"What if you end up married to one of them?"

"Ooh, that's be adorable, you and one of the Weasley twins!" Alicia squealed.

"Guys," Casey began to laugh. "They _are _separate people, you know. I wouldn't marry both of them."

"But you _would_marry one of them." Angelina finished for her.

"If they both fell in love with you," Alicia said, excitedly perching on her bed facing Casey. "Which one would you choose?"

"George," Angelina answered for her. "George is sweeter."

"Oh, that's not even true!" Casey said finally, causing both Angelina and Alicia to cheer. "Fred's definitely sweeter, it's not even a contest."

"She would know, Ange," Alicia smiled.

"Well, maybe he's sweeter to you because he sweet _on _you." Angelina insinuated, winking.

"What do you mean?"

"I've always noticed that George was a little nicer," Angelina told her. "So maybe you think Fred is sweeter because he fancies you."

"That would make so much sense!" Alicia exclaimed as though she'd just realized something she had been trying to figure out for ages.

"What would make sense?" Casey asked, feeling lost about the whole discussion happening.

"He acts like he fancies you," Alicia said. "I've always thought he treated you differently, but I never realized! How stupid of me!"

"You know, now that you mention it," Angelina gave Casey an appraising look. "I think he does fancy you."

"Great." Casey muttered. "First George and now you two. He does n-"

"George said he fancied you?!" Alicia and Angelina exclaimed in unison.

"No!" Casey said. "No he said he thought Fred fancied me, but that's all, he doesn't know any-"

"Casey, George is Fred's twin!" Angelina squealed. "If anyone would know if Fred fancies you, it's him! And if he says so, I'd wager it's right."

"Stop it, guys," Casey said, running out of ways to defend herself. After all, how was she supposed to deny it to Angelina and Alicia as well as George when she couldn't totally deny it herself?

"Well, do you fancy him, then?" Alicia asked expectantly.

"I-" Casey wasn't entirely sure what to say. She wasn't sure what the truth even was. "I guess I'm not sure." This caused both Angelina and Alicia to cheer again.

"I think that's more positive than negative!" Angelina said happily.

"We've got to help her figure this out, Ange." Alicia said, sitting up straighter. "So, we've already gone over attractiveness...you do think he's attractive, right?" Casey felt she no longer had any reason to lie.

"Yes." She said quietly. The grins on Angelina and Alicia's faces widened.

"If something happens, something exciting," Angelina questioned. "Is he the first one you want to tell?"

"Of course!" Casey said. "Because he's my best friend."

"Your best friend that you're attracted to." Alicia corrected.

"Fine, yes, my best friend that I'm attracted to," Casey admitted. "But he's my best friend, still! I can't fancy him!"

"I don't think it's that you can't," Angelina told her. "I think it's that you're afraid to." Casey didn't have any way to respond to this. It was true, she had fancied people before...quite a few people, in fact, but none of which she'd already had a close relationship with.

"How do I know that this won't ruin our friendship?" Casey asked them.

"But what if it doesn't?" Angelina countered. "What if the two of you fall in love?"

"That's too big of a risk, I need him." Casey said. "And I'm still getting over Kiran, and, I'm..."

"Scared." Angelina finished for her.

"Yeah, I'm scared."

"I'm sorry, love," Alicia said affectionately. "But Fred and Kiran are loads different!"

"Are they, though?" Casey said, feeling the pangs in her chest come back. "Kiran was sweet at first, too. He gave me flowers and kisses on the forehead and was always very kind...but that wore off. He stopped showing up when he promised he would and he started lying to me, and then he abandoned me! How am I supposed to know that it won't happen again?"

"You don't know," Angelina sighed. "But honestly, both Fred and George are good people. They may not always seem like it, but I don't think Fred would intend to hurt you. He's probably just as afraid of getting hurt as you are."

"I suppose." Casey sighed back. "Thanks, guys, but I really need to get to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, you have to keep us updated on the Fred-situation!" Alicia said. "Good night!"

Casey rolled her eyes as she closed the curtains on her four poster. "Good night."

She had finally admitted to herself and to them that she liked Fred. What had she gotten herself into?

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading! I'm just having some fun with this, but I'd love to hear from those of you reading. If you have any comments, criticisms or even questions, please review! Thanks again!**


	7. Chapter 7: Advanced Potions Lesson

Casey woke early for the first day of class remembering that Fred and George had gone up to their dormitory being angry with her and felt slightly anxious. Neither Fred nor George had ever stayed mad at her for long, but she knew that both of them were quite stubborn. She quickly showered and dressed, then spent a considerable amount of time spritzing potion through her hair like she did every morning to eliminate the frizz from her curls.

"Do you just have an endless supply of that stuff?" Angelina asked sleepily as she emerged from her four-poster.

"I do have a lot, yes." Casey said, finally becoming satisfied with her curls. "It' can get a little complicated to make, so I make it in large batches and store them."

"Are you taking N.E.W.T. Level potions?" Angelina asked her.

"Of course she is," Alicia said. "She probably got full marks on her Potions O.W.L."

In fact, Casey had received full marks on her potions O.W.L., something that was unheard of for at least a half a century. The ministry wizard who had examined her during her potions O.W.L. Had been so impressed at the speed at which she was able to brew a blood replenishing potion and still perfect it that he personally recommended to Professor Dumbledore that she take Advanced Potions to harness her potential. Casey was not sure how Snape would feel about that, as he was more or less indifferent to her despite her talent, and didn't say anything to anyone about her O.W.L. results.

"I've been thinking I should cut it." Casey said to no one in particular as she examined her long curls. They fell in spirals to her waist and were very had to handle. "What if it was above my shoulders? You know, in a little bob?"

"That would be cute," Alicia replied, though distractedly, so Casey hastily put on some mascara and headed down to breakfast. The Great Hall was still primarily empty as it was pretty early, so she sat down and sipped some orange juice while waiting for Fred and George.

When they finally arrived, they looked as cheerful as they normally did, and Casey sighed with relief when they sat next to her.

"Morning, Case," Fred and George said in unison.

"Good morning!" Casey said, and with a quick sigh, she knew she'd better get it out of the way now. "I'm sorry about last night, I definitely didn't m-"

"No worries, Casey," Fred smiled. "We know you meant well."

"But you're not going to stop us from entering." George warned. He and Casey made eye contact and she could tell there was no way she could get him to back down. Not now, anyway.

"Fine," She agreed. "I won't stop you, but I hope you know that I'm not going to help you either. If one of you kills yourself, I will not have anything to do with it."

"Deal," Fred said cheerfully. "Ah, look, here's McGonagall with the schedules. Wonder how much free time we'll have today, George?"

"Probably a lot more than me," Casey grumbled. Casey had gotten more O.W.L.s than the twins, not necesarily because she was smarter but because she worked harder. She had promised her grandfather that she'd study hard in school; it was part of the condition that allowed her to go to Hogwarts. Not only that, but even though she knew that the twins were willing to let her help with the joke shop, she knew she needed to find some sort of job, and she really wasn't sure what that'd be. She was taking N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Arithmancy on top of her Advanced Potion class. She was lucky she had scraped a high enough mark in Herbology and Arithmancy, however, and almost wished that she wasn't taking N.E.W.T. Levels of those.

When McGonagall approached her, she handed out her schedule.

"It looks like you've got a pretty full schedule, Ms. Volkova." McGonagall said. "Nothing you can't handle, of course." Casey looked over her schedule, today she had Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Arithmancy on top of...Potions with the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff seventh years?

"Professor, it looks like there's a mistake here," Casey said, holding her schedule up to McGonagall. "It says here that I'm to be at Potions with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seventh years this afternoon."

"Yes, Ms. Volkova, that's right." McGonagall said after staring down her nose at the schedule for a moment. "You're to be taking an advanced level of Potions this year."

"Oh, I thought I was going to be taking private lessons with Professor Snape," Casey said.

"No, Professor Snape said that placing you in the seventh level of Potions would be fine for this year." McGonagall said.

"Oh, right." Casey said, strangely disappointed. "Thanks, Professor."

"Advanced Potions?" Fred said, clapping Casey lightly on the back. "Look at you! Congratulations!"

"Good going!" George said cheerfully. "That will come in handy when you're the Potion Master of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!"

"Speaking of, we should probably check on that Amortentia after dinner tonight," Casey said, taking a last swig of orange juice. "I've got it set up in my dormitory, I can bring it down for you guys. We'll have to figure out what to do with it."

"Excellent!" Fred said. "Where are we off to now, then?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts." George remarked as they left the Gryffindor table. "With Mad-Eye Moody."

"This should be interesting." Casey said. "Have you two ever met him before?"

"No," Fred said. "We've only heard Dad talk about him. Should be interesting though, seeing as how he was an Auror."

* * *

The lesson indeed appeared to be interesting. The sixth year Gryffindors and Hufflpuffs chattered enthusiatcially until Moody lipmed into the classroom and grumbled,

"You can put those books and quills away. Wands out." Casey, Lee, and the twins exchanged looks of interest.

"Right." Moody started. "We'll be starting today's lesson with Curses. You all know what curses are, don't you?" There was a collective nod from everyone in the class. Moody's magical eye was spinning around and fell on Casey.

"Volkova, eh?" He asked her. Startled, Casey nodded quickly. _How does he know my last name? _

"Knew your mother and father." Moody continued quickly. "Great folk. Nasty deaths." Casey's face fell. She'd never known her parents, but it was strange to hear someone mention the murders of them so nonchalantly. However, Moody's magical eye had left her and he was moving on with the lesson without further mention.

"According to the Ministry I'm only supposed to teach you about countercurses. I'm not supposed to teach you about the dark stuff that you'll need to be prepared for," Moody said. "But Dumbledore thinks your nerves are better than that, so I'll be teaching you that as well. The sooner you know what you're up against, the better."

Moody proceeded to pull out a jar of spiders. The class craned their necks to get a good look at it.

"Do any of you know what curses are the most punishable by wizarding law?" Moody asked. Casey looked around toward the rest of the class. They all seemed as hesistant to answer as she did. Reluctantly, she raised her hand.

"The Killing Curse, of course." Casey murmured, cringing slightly as Moody nodded and pulled a spider from the jar.

"Absolutely." Moody said. "There's only one person who's ever survived that one, and he goes to this school. You all know Harry Potter?" The class nodded. "Well, he was the exception, there's no countercurse, so you have to avoid it as best as you can." As he said this, he set the spider on his desk, pointed his wand at it and shouted, "_Avada Kedavra!_" And the spider immediately dropped dead. The whole class gasped, but from then on, the class seemed much more interested.

After the class ended, Casey packed up as quickly as she could, eager to leave the classroom. The rest of the class was enthusiastic and interested after the lesson, but Casey felt rather sick. Casey followed Fred, George and Lee to the doorway but immediately he heard Moody's voice from behind her, causing her to freeze in her tracks.

"Volkova."

"Yes, Professor?" She turned toward him.

"Heard from your uncle lately?"

"My-What do you mean, sir?" Casey said. Her mother was an only child, so she didn't have any uncles.

"Atius. Atius Casey." Moody growled. Casey felt her mouth drop open a little. Atius Casey was her great uncle, her grandfather's brother who was one of the very first Death Eaters. Her grandfather had refused to talk about him when she was growing up, but she learned bits and pieces about him from little things that her grandfather mentioned. As far as she knew, she wasn't even sure if he was alive anymore.

"He's my great uncle, sir." Casey croaked, trying to sound as casual as possible. Something about Moody put her off.

"Right." Moody seemed annoyed at her correction. "Heard from him lately?"

"No, sir," Casey shook her head. "I've never heard from him. My grandfather never spoke to him after he left England."

"I don't blame him." Moody growled. "Not a pleasant man, Atius. Not pleasant at all. Keep an eye out, Volkova. Constant vigilance."

"Yes, sir." Casey said, and without waiting to be dismissed, she turned and tore from the room. Fred and George were waiting for her.

"What did he want?" George asked curiously.

"He wanted to know if I'd heard from my great uncle Atius." Casey mumbled, not looking up at the twins.

"Does he know him?" Fred asked. "Was he an Auror like him?"

"No, Fred." Casey snapped a little too harshly. "He was a Death Eater." Casey had never told Fred and George about her family history, finding it not only unsavory and awkward to tell people that you were related to a powerful Death Eater who was extremely loyal to Lord Voldemort, but because it always seemed irrelevant. Like her grandfather said, the Death Eaters were finished, who cared? She figured her great uncle was dead, anyway.

"What?" George exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"So you wouldn't react like this." Casey said angrily. "I didn't even know him. I still don't, he could be dead for all I know!"

"Sounds like he's not, since Moody was asking about him." Fred remarked but recoiled when Casey met him with a piercing glare.

"I don't care about my bloody great uncle." She said. "And I don't care about Moody. Using a Killing Curse in class..."

"The lesson was pretty cool," George defended Moody. "I mean, he has a point. He wants us to know what we're up against."

"Up against? Why? So we can defend ourselves?" Casey shouted, causing a suit of armor to turn its gaze toward the three of them. "You heard him. You can't defend yourself against that. My parents couldn't, your uncles who you were named after couldn't, and Harry's parents couldn't. As far as we know, it was just luck that saved Harry. So, great, now that we know what we're up against, we know what will one day end us." Steaming, Casey sped ahead, moving as fast as her legs would take her. Unfortunately, only being 5 feet and 2 inches compared to Fred and George's 6 feet, her short legs were no match for theirs.

"Casey," Fred said softly. "We didn't mean to upset you."

"Well, you did, Fred." Casey snapped. "Good for you! Do you want a cookie?"

"Casey, come on," George said. "We're sorry. We only meant it was interesting compared to the other lessons we've had. We really didn't mean to insult you." Casey didn't answer.

"We didn't know..." Fred started slowly, but paused. "I'm sorry about your parents. We didn't know."

"Now you do." Casey said, but the anger was mostly gone from her voice. "Now that Mad-Eye told announced it front of the class. I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was my responsibility to tell you."

"It isn't." Fred reassured her. "We're not your enemies here, Casey."

"No, I know." Casey said. "I'm just really angry."

"Really?" George exclaimed. "My god, Fred, did you know she was angry?"

"I never would have guessed." Fred snickered. "Quite good at hiding it, you are, madam."

"Shut it." Casey tried to stifle her smile.

"Our gentle little lady would never be angry," Fred continued. "She's too delicate...like a flower."

"Oh, yes, anger is too unladylike for her." George confirmed.

"I'll hex the both of you tossers," Casey threatened.

"My, my, the tongue on her today, George." Fred said shaking his head. "Tsk, tsk. I've never heard such language from a lady! Come here, Flower." He said as he scooped her up into a fireman's carry.

"Fred!" She shrieked, squirming violently. "You put me down!"

"What's that, dear?" George mocked. "You'd like Freddie to carry you to class because your dainty little feet are too weak to go on?"

"Oh, you bastards!" She shouted, trying her best not to smile or laugh as she struggled to reach for her wand in the pocket of her robe.

"Fine, fine." Fred obliged, putting her back on the ground. She hit him lightly on the shoulder.

"When a woman says no, you listen." She scolded him.

"Right you are, darling," Fred smiled. "But I don't remember you saying 'no.'"

"Bugger off." She grumbled. "You know what I mean."

"Yes, pet, we do." George said, clearly enjoying belittling her.

"Hey, you both know that in a fight, I'd beat you both with my hands tied around my back and my wand broken. How's that for lady-like?"

"Sounds about right, actually," Fred laughed.

* * *

The rest of classes went by as uneventfully as first days of classes went. Casey couldn't help but feel on-edge for the rest of the day, but by the time she arrived to her Advanced Potions lesson, she was able to put the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson out of her mind.

As she entered Snape's dungeon, she looked around to identify someone she knew. Though she recognized several people, she didn't really know any of them, so she settled at the nearest empty spot next to a tall Hufflepuff boy. He turned and smiled at her when she arrived, and she noticed how incredibly handsome he was. She smiled back at him, trying to place where she knew him from.

"Hi," She greeted him.

"Hey," The boy said. "Casey, right?"

"Yeah." She said, holding out her hand for him to shake. "Casey Volkova. I'm sorry, I guess I don't know your name."

"No worries," He smiled, displaying two adorable dimples. "Cedric Diggory."

"Oh!" She said. "I know you! We played you last year in quidditch! You're the Seeker for Hufflepuff, right? Or was, I suppose?"

"Yes, I am." He smiled wider. "Aren't you a sixth year?"

"Yeah," Casey said. "I'm not in the wrong class, I promise. I was placed in a more Advanced Potions class because of my O.W.L.s."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Cedric said, sounding entirely authentic. "Congratulations. I'll have to get your help, then because I'm not the best at potions."

"Of course," Casey said. She opened her mouth to make more conversation, but Snape sauntered into the room.

The lesson went better than she could have imagined, as the class was instructed to make a sleeping draught, a potion which Casey had mastered last summer when her grandfather was having fitful nights.

"You'll want to stir a little faster than that," She muttered quietly to Cedric.

"Oh, thanks," Cedric smiled, once again revealing his dimples. Casey couldn't help but like him. He was very friendly...not at all the prat that Fred and George accused him of being.

After Snape slid by, Cedric leaned over to Casey.

"What's the best way to juice the flobberworm?"

"Massage it out gently," Casey whispered. "That way you don't waste a bunch of mucus getting it all over yourself."

"Thanks," Cedric murmured, following her instructions.

When Snape came around at the end of the lesson to judge the potions, he merely nodded at Casey's perfect lavender potion. Cedric's potion was a tad bit lighter, but Snape nodded at his as well and muttered, "Acceptable."

"That was awesome what you did for me," Cedric beamed as they walked down the corridor to get to the Great Hall. "Thanks a lot!"

"No worries, Cedric," She smiled at him. "I make that potion all the time for my grandpa, so it like the back of my hand."

"That's amazing that you're so good at potions," Cedric remarked. "Like I said, I'm lousy."

"Well, I hope you're not as lousy at your other classes as you are in potions," Casey joked. "Or do you need me to come to your Transfiguration lessons as well?"

"No, I'm actually good at that one," Cedric laughed. As the entered the Great Hall, she saw Fred and George eyeing her and Cedric suspiciously.

"Listen," Cedric said, "It was really great to meet you. I look forward to learning how to brew potions from you." Cedric smiled and shook her hand again.

"Yeah, of course." Casey returned. "Glad to meet you too."

Before Fred and George even opened their mouth, she knew what they were thinking.

"What were you doing with that prat?" Fred asked bitterly.

"We were talking," Casey answered. "Gee, Fred, I knew you were thick but I didn't realize that-"

"He's a prat." George said. "You should be befriending prats like him."

"Guys, come on!" Casey sighed. "He's really nice."

"Right, he's nice." George said sarcastically. "You probably just like him because he's handsome." From the corner of her eyes, she saw Fred's expression darken even more.

"Rubbish." Casey responded. "You're being ridiculous. His team beat ours in quidditch once and I'm getting incriminated for talking to him?"

Before either of the twins could answer however, Professor McGonagall had approached the table.

"Ms. Volkova, if you don't mind, I need to speak with you." She said. There was a grave look on her face. For a fleeting moment she thought that maybe she was in trouble for helping Cedric in potions, that somehow, maybe, Snape had found out and now was going to be given dentention, but she realized that McGonagall's face looked more worried than angry.

"Professor..." Casey started. "What's...what's wrong?"

"If you'll come with me, please." McGonagall gestured for her to follow her.

"Okay." Casey said softly. "I'll see you guys in a bit...save me some food." Fred and George nodded, watching she and McGonagall curiously.

"Professor, may I ask..." Casey started.

"We're going to Professor Dumbledore's office, Ms. Volkova." McGonagall said curtly.

"Did I do something wrong."

"Heavens, no." McGonagall answered. Her face had softened into something of pity. They walked in silence to Dumbledore's office, Casey's anxiety growing with each step. When they finally reached his office, the gargoyle leapt aside and let she and McGonagall in. Casey's sister Alex and Professor Snape were already in the office with Professor Dumbledore. Alex, looking as confused as Casey, mouthed, "What's going on?" Casey merely shrugged.

"Please sit down, Ms. Volkova." Dumbledore said softly. Casey sat down in a chair next to her sister. Dumbledore seemed to take forever to tell them why they were here.

"It pains me to tell you," Dumbledore said. "That your grandfather has died. I'm truly sorry."

The heaviest, most horrendous silence fell on Casey's shoulders and she felt she'd been deflated. She heard a small squeak from Alex next to her.

"But..." Alex rasped. "He was fine...when I left...he was..."

"I understand that this information is very difficult to hear," Dumbledore said. "But you must know. Your grandfather was indeed, of fine health for his age. When he was found by your housekeeper-"

"Neighbor..." Casey murmured. "She was our neighbor...not the housekeeper."

"Oh, yes, excuse me," Dumbledore said politely. "When your neighbor found him, it appears the house was very disorganized and it indicates that there was quite the struggle. Again, I am so truly sorry to tell you, but it appears that your grandfather was murdered."

**Thanks again for reading! Please review if you have any comments/criticisms/questions! **


	8. Chapter 8: People Can Change

Casey felt as though she were sinking further and further into the cushy armchair she sat in, the universe around her moving too fast, sucking her deeper and deeper into it. She was too close to the fire; the skin on her face might soon catch fire, she thought, but this could no urge her movement. Her thoughts were so far disconnected from herself and her surroundings. A muffled sobbing murmured next to her, but she was only vaguely aware of it. She herself had not cried. She had never really imagined a situation where something like this would happen, where someone she loved—one of her last family members alive—was murdered, but perhaps when reading the newspaper about widows or orphans or massacres, disasters, anything involving a death of someone who left loved ones behind, she had wondered how she would react. Her imagined reaction would include screaming, violent sobs, and perhaps even the breaking of anything in her reach.

But when it actually happened? She had frozen as if someone hit her with a petrifying spell. Immobilized by the news she had just received she had not so much as twitched. Someone must of moved her chair to Dumbledore's fireplace because she could now feel the heat after it felt as though it were about to burn her, but she could not move.

_Good. _She thought, _Let it burn me up. _

"Casey…Alex…" A soft voice muttered between Casey and the muffled sobs. "We have brought you some dinner." Casey slowly was able to lift her head and turn to see McGonagall and Dumbledore holding golden plates and goblets for the two of them. Casey could not imagine eating. She couldn't even imagine lifting her arms. Alex, still sobbing, attempted to mutter a thanks but was not able to, and she lifted her arms to take her dinner from McGonagall. Casey followed suit and her arms felt sore and nearly lifeless as they buckled under the weight of the dish.

"I can't…" Casey rasped, only able to emit a whisper. "I can't eat this."

"Do try," Dumbledore encouraged softly. "Your body needs it, and I daresay if you do not eat, you will only feel worse." Casey looked to Alex, who had resumed her sobbing and not so much as touched the sandwich on her plate. Casey glanced at Dumbledore and lifted the sandwich to her mouth, surprised at how her stomach did not reject the food as she swallowed it. She managed a few bites and put the sandwich down.

"Who…" she looked to Dumbledore. "Who did it? I…_we _need to know." Casey gestured at Alex who sobbed even harder.

"That is not yet known," Dumbledore said, continuing to keep his voice quiet and steady. "But there are always guesses. Perhaps not very accurate, but guesses nonetheless."

"Was it…Atius?" Casey managed. "His brother? I don't know whether he's still…" The word 'alive' could not quite reach her mouth.

"Though it is not certain whether your great uncle Atius is still alive, it is believed that he has not died." Dumbledore answered. "And one can assume that he is the most likely suspect of who murdered your grandfather." Casey felt her stomach drop lower.

"Why?" Alex emerged from her hands to ask between sobs.

"This is also not certain," Dumbledore answered. "However, I know you want answers, so we can begin to make more guesses. If the murderer was indeed Atius Casey, he could have done so out of revenge because his brother abandoned him and his mater, Lord Voldemort, during their rise to power. And perhaps he could have chosen now to do it because his master is now coming out of wherever he is hiding now."

"He said…he said they were finished." Casey managed to get her voice above a whisper. "Grandpa _insisted _that the Death Eaters were finished. That there was no hope for them or Lord Voldemort."

"The Death Eaters are not finished," Dumbledore said. "And it very likely that Lord Voldemort is not finished either. Your grandfather was always frightened of his older brother. He refused to visit your parents when they were in the Order of the Phoenix. He feared for their safety constantly; there was not a week that went by that I did not receive a letter from him, begging me to watch over your parents and his grandchildren."

"Why would Atius want to hurt his own family?" Casey nearly shouted, finally feeling anger rise in her chest.

"Your ancestors were always purebloods and are one of the last truly pureblood wizarding families left." Dumbledore said. "Though most of them were fairly neutral and got along fine with wizard and witches of other blood status, but there were a few of your ancestors, such as your great uncle Atius, who adopted the idea that purebloods were better than the rest. When your grandfather did not follow suit and left the country to escape him and his new beliefs, one can guess that this angered Atius very much. And then when his daughter and her husband joined the resistance against Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters, they became not only bloodtraitors, but enemies."

"Stop," Alex cleared her throat, willing the sob out of her voice. "Professor, I…I don't want to talk about this right now. It doesn't matter to me why our grandfather was murdered. It matters that it happened."

"You are right." Dumbledore nodded. "No matter the reason, this is a tragedy. I truly apologize for what has happened, and I understand the two of you are in a great deal of pain, naturally. You are excused from lessons so that you may attend your grandfather's funeral and take a little time to heal."

"Are we supposed to go back home?" Casey did not like the idea of leaving Hogwarts, and as she thought this, she felt a pang of guilt at not wanting to say goodbye to her grandfather.

"To Guatemala?" Dumbledore answered, "No. No, your grandfather's will requests that he be buried in England with his mother and father, so the funeral will be held there." Casey snapped her gaze away from Dumbledore to look at Alex, who stared anxiously back.

"But…" Casey stuttered, "Why isn't he being buried with our grandmother?"

"His will has been examined for tampering," Dumbledore said, seeming to understand what Casey was thinking. "But it was inconclusive. It appears that this really was Pax Casey's wish. Because you no longer have any living family living in the United Kingdom, Molly Weasley was contacted and she is more than glad to house you while you're away from Hogwarts this next week. She will take care of your both very well."

Though it was faint, Casey felt a little relief echo in her heart. Molly Weasley was the closest thing to a mother she ever had and there were few other people that she'd be comfortable staying with.

* * *

Their trunks had been packed for them, much to Casey's relief, as she couldn't imagine seeing or speaking to any of her classmates. She didn't know how she was supposed to explain what happened. How was she supposed to move on from a moment like this? The questions kept stacking on top of one another, but there were no real answers gathering. The more she thought, the more pain she seemed to feel, and she almost wished that she could feel numb and immobile again. A fleeting thought led her to Fred and George. Would they know she was with their mother? Would they know what happened? There was one person she wouldn't mind explaining this to, and that was Fred. Using Floo Powder, Alex and Casey arrived in the burrow with Dumbledore and their trunks, immediately greeted by an anxious Mrs. Weasley. When Mrs. Weasley saw them, she cried out like Casey associated with the intense urge to nurture and pulled the sister into an embrace, even though she had only met Alex a few times.

"Oh, my poor dears." Molly said as she pulled them even closer. "You can stay with us as long as you like. My poor, poor dears." When she finally released them, Dumbledore turned to leave.

"I will be in contact with the two of you after the funeral to talk with you," He said softly. "You will not be expected to return to Hogwarts until you are ready to do so. If you need anything, please tell Molly, Arthur, or send me an owl."

Mrs. Weasley magicked their trunks up the stairs.

"I've set you both up in Ginny's room, that should be comfortable for you." She said. "What would the two of you like for dinner? I can cook you up anything."

"Nothing, Mrs. Weasley," Casey murmured. "Thank you so much, but I don't really know if I can eat anything."

"Nonsense, dear, you have to eat," Molly said. "It will only make it feel worse to starve yourself." Alex remained silent, but smiled politely back at Mrs. Weasley.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." She said softly. "Really anything is fine." Molly continued to watch them, as if staring at them longer would help her figure out what their favorite foods were.

"Maybe some of your famous French onion soup…" Casey suggested, managing a real smile for the first time since entering Dumbledore's office that evening. "With some bread." Casey glanced at her sister.

"Yes," Alex answered. "That would be lovely." As Alex went up the stairs to Ginny's room to get a change of clothes, Casey looked to Mrs. Weasley.

"Mrs. Weasley," Casey muttered, feeling tears rise in her eyes and her throat tighten. "Thank you so much for letting us stay…right now, it's…" Casey trailed off.

"Oh," Mrs. Weasley pulled Casey back into a hug, and she began to sob, letting all of her grief out. Between sobs, she inhaled sharply, trying to control herself, but it felt as though she'd never stop crying again, that she would forever be stuck in eternal sobs.

"I'm so sorry, dear," Mrs. Weasley cooed as she stroked Casey's back. "I'm so sorry."

"I just can't…" Casey managed to say between her sobs. "I can't believe…"

"I know, dear." Mrs. Weasley said. "This isn't fair and it isn't right. I'm so sorry."

"When will it get better?" Casey could barely see Mrs. Weasley's face through her tears. There was pain etched on that face as well.

"I don't know, darling," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "But it will get easier. I promise."

* * *

Casey's sleep that night was fitful and full of nightmares that she would forget upon waking. Over and over, she saw her grandfather's face, filled with fear. When she woke, that's all she would remember, and she would fall asleep to be immersed in those nightmares again.

When she woke in the morning, she saw familiar red-heads seated on the end of her bed.

"Morning, sleepyhead." George said, gently nudged her left foot.

"Fred? George?" she muttered sleepily. "What are you doing here?"

"Dumbledore let us come home for a week to be with you two." Fred explained. There was an anxious look in his eyes, as though he were waiting for her to break in front of him.

"That was nice of him," Casey said softly. She turned to look for her sister, but all that was on her bed were a few mussed up blankets.

"She just went down to help Mum with breakfast." George explained.

"Or is insisting on helping," Fred said.

"Mum won't let her," George continued. "Keeps telling her to relax."

"But your sister's stubborn, she is," Fred smiled. "The two of you are definitely related."

"In fact, she may be even more stubborn than you," George said.

"Didn't think that was possible, did you?" Fred winked.

"Well, she gives Mum a run for her money, that's for sure." George said.

"Stop, you two!" Casey smiled back. "You're giving me a headache."

"Sorry," Fred said, his face becoming anxious and serious again. "How are you feeling?"

Casey wasn't entirely sure how to answer that. Her spirit had just flooded with happiness at the sight of her best friends, but thinking about her grandfather again brought her back to the cold, brutal reality. Her smile quickly faded.

"I'm okay," This lie was met by the twins raising their eyebrows in disbelief.

"Well, no, I'm not." She admitted. "But I am really happy that you two are here." George placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course we are." He said, looking her straight in the eye. "We love you. We'll always be here for you. Isn't that right, Fred?"

"Like a boggart on fear." Fred confirmed, placing his hand on her other shoulder.

"Nice metaphor, you git." George muttered sarcastically.

"Let's see you come up with a better one." Fred retorted. George rolled his eyes.

"Now, don't fight over me boys," Casey said. "You'll ruin the heartfelt moment." The twins laughed and both embraced her, then released her when Mrs. Weasley entered the room.

"Casey, dear, breakfast is ready." She said gently. "Do you want to eat it in here? I can bring it up to you."

"No, Mrs. Weasley, that's okay," Casey said, getting out of bed. "I'll come down."

George went down the stairs first, leaving Fred and Casey trailing behind a bit.

"You know we meant it, Casey." He said seriously.

"Meant what?"

"That we'd always be there for you." Fred answered, looking her in the eye. "I'm here for you. Anytime."

"I know, Fred. Thank you."

* * *

That night, she was having a horrible, fitful sleep again and woke from another nightmare, crying. Alex shifted in her bed, but did not wake. Her shock turned to fear and she immediately understood that she was not safe. She thought wildly that her grandfather's murderer was lurking somewhere outside the Burrow, and she was attacked with panic. Unable to think of any other options, she sniffed and scrambled out of bed and up the stairs. As quickly as she could, she tore into Fred and George's bedroom. When she entered, she saw that a single candle was lit next to Fred's bed, and he was still awake, scrutinizing a piece of parchment by the light of his candle while George lay, asleep.

"Casey?" Fred whispered. "What's wrong?"

"We're not safe, Fred." She hyperventilated. She strided over to his bed and attempted to pull him out of it.

"Hey, wait," He said calmly, placing a hand on her arm to steady her. "What happened?"

Fred's touch eased her slightly and she shook her head.

"I had a nightmare," she muttered, realizing this herself as she said it. "I thought…I thought there was someone outside who was going to…" she trailed off.

"Hey," Fred cooed, scooting over in his bed. "Here, sit down with me." He patted the spot next to him and helped her sit down. She sat and turned inward toward him, nestling her head on his chest and letting his arms envelope her.

"You're okay. You're safe." Fred reminded her in a soft whisper. "I promise." He stroked her hair softly and Casey felt a level of comfort that she hadn't felt in a long time. She did not doubt Fred's promise; she felt safe.

"I don't want to go," She muttered.

"Go where?"

"The funeral." Casey voiced what she had been dreading. "I don't want to see him like that. I don't want to have to see everyone else who was never there when he needed them."

"You don't have to go." Fred told her, running his fingers through her hair.

"Yes, I do." Casey said simply, and he didn't argue.

"I'll be there, too." Fred answered. "The whole time. You can hug me if you need to, or if you get really angry you can punch me in the face. Or you can yell at me, too. Maybe throw a nice combo of your choice in. Anything you need. I'm all-purpose."

"Thank you," Casey whispered. Without thinking she said, "I need you."

"You've got it." Fred answered without hesitating.

"I'm sorry," Casey apologized, beginning to cry.

"Don't be sorry." Fred said pulling her face up to look at his. "I need you too. What do you think I'd do without you? It's okay for you to need me. Especially right now. I'm happy you need me." Before Casey could process it, he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. When he pulled back, he wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled.

"Don't worry, Casey." Fred murmured. "Not right now, at least. You have enough to worry about, and you need to get some sleep. Do you need me to come sleep in Ginny's room? I can sleep in her chair. I'll make sure nothing bad happens."

"No," Casey whispered. "I don't want to leave."

"You don't have to." Fred said. "You can sleep here. I can sleep on the floor."

"No, please don't." Casey said, pulling herself closer to Fred. "Please stay."

"Okay." Fred said, leaning to blow out his candle. "I'll be a gentleman, I promise."

"I don't think I've ever heard you make a promise like that, Fred." Casey managed.

"Yeah, well, people can change." Fred said, shifting so that the two could lay down. He slipped his arm under her shoulders and pulled her in so that he head was resting on his chest, his heart beating in her ear. Finally feeling at ease, Casey began to feel herself falling asleep.

"I love you, Fred." She whispered. There was a slight pause, but Fred whispered back, "I love you, Casey."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Sorry this is a little shorter and took a while to post! I've been busy. Please review with comments or criticisms! Thanks! **


	9. Chapter 9: An Unexpected Visitor

Fred woke with a stranger sensation in his arm, or rather, no sensation at all. Without opening his eyes, he attempted to move his numb arm only to find that it wouldn't budge. Pulling a little harder to make it move, he felt something shift on his chest. Fred let his eyes drift open, and when he did so, he saw black curls strewn lazily upon his shoulder and chest. Casey's hair. As Fred remembered the night before, his heart began to beat faster and a warm sensation floated throughout his body. Casey had slept in his bed the entire night. Fred had just began to enjoy the excitement and warmth that mingled with a slight feeling of anxiety when a thought suddenly occurred to him. George.

Fred shifted his gaze quickly to the right to George's bed, only to find it with the sheets crumpled in a pile at the foot of the bed, exposing an empty mattress and pillow. He was already awake, and with a bit of dread in his throat, Fred knew George had seen Casey in his bed...and would probably have something to say about it. Hardly sure how he himself felt about it, Fred didn't want to be bothered by George.

Feeling him stir, Casey had woken and sat up, finally letting some blood flow to Fred's left arm. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning," Casey whispered softly.

"Good morning," Fred answered her, quickly shifting away from her and up out of his bed. He was not sure how Casey was feeling about waking up in his bed. She had wanted to the night before, but things always felt a little different during daylight. He examined her face and body language for signs of distress, but she seemed as normal as ever. "Feeling better?"

"Much better," Casey smiled. "Thank you." She got out of bed and gave Fred a hug, in which he eagerly returned, glad that she seemed entirely un-phased.

"No problem." Fred rubbed her back and released her from the hug. "Remember, anytime."

"What time is it?" Casey looked around for a clock.

"About 8," Fred answered. "I'll bet breakfast is almost ready,"

"Good, I'm starved!" Casey said. "I'll just get changed quickly. See you down there." She trotted out of the room without so much as a second glance. Fred stumbled back to his bed, his legs almost feeling as numb as his arm had felt when he woke up.

He had slept in the same bed as Casey. Not only that, but he had cuddled with her the whole night...and she'd wanted it. This time it wasn't an accident and couldn't be blamed on falling asleep on the couch accidentally. She had wanted it, and, Fred admitted, he had wanted it too. And not only had she been in his bed, but she had told him that she loved him...and he'd said it back. What the intention behind the words innocent?

_What does that mean?_ Fred thought. He had always known he'd fancied Casey a little, which was natural. She was an attractive, smart, funny girl, how could he not be attracted to her? _But she's my best friend. _Fred countered his own racing thoughts. _Not only is this feeling wrong, but it's impossible. It'd never work out. _But no matter how many times he made himself repeat the thought, nothing felt as comfortable and warm are reliving Casey in his arms-even with one of them completely lifeless-warm against his beating heart.

Fred rested his face in his hands.

"Bollocks," he muttered.

"Breakfast is ready, mate." A voice came from the door and Fred looked up to see George.

"Thanks," He said, recovering quickly and shooting up to get to the door to meet him.

"All right?" George asked. His raised eyebrow said that he already knew how Fred was feeling and why.

"Spectacular." Fred mumbled, angling to leave the room and move past George who remained in the doorway.

"I'll bet you are." George shot back, but instead of the cheekiness in his voice that Fred might have expected when the subject was approached, there was a sting of anger.

"What are you on about?" Fred said, coming face-to-face with his brother. George moved forward into the room, causing Fred to back-peddle.

"You know what I'm on about, mate." George answered, scowling. Before Fred could respond he continued. "What are you doing, messing with her like that?"

"What do you mean?" Fred asked, shocked to find his brother so angry.

"Her grandfather just died, Fred." George said harshly. "And you're coaxing her into your bed? Bloody pathetic."

"George, that's not-" Fred defended himself, but was immediately cut off by George.

"Have you no sense at all?" George nearly shouted. "She is vulnerable right now, and you're going to hurt her by playing around with her like that."

"Are you mad?" Fred shouted back. "I'm not messing with her!"

"What do you call what I saw then?" George asked. "You had her in your bed, Fred! While I was in the room, no less."

"Nothing happened!" Fred said. "Honest, she just needed-"

"What she needs is for you to be a good friend, mate." George spat. "And you're not being a friend if you're lusting after her and groping her in your bed at night. You're using her."

"I am not!" Fred said. "I was comforting her."

"That's bollocks." George refuted, stepping forward as if he may throw a punch. "She needs you right now and that doesn't mean you get to fulfill your fantasies. She needs you to listen to her."

"After all these years, George, I had never taken for you to be so sensitive," Fred spat caustically.

"Well, I'm a damn sight more sensitive than you are." George countered.

"George, seriously, listen." Fred said as calmly as he could. "She had a nightmare last night and came in here. I offered to let her have the bed but she wanted me to stay. So I stayed."

"Oh, what a saint you are," George said. "She should give you a medal for being such a great hero for her. Fred, like I said, she's vulnerable. You're just going to confuse and hurt her if you're taking her into your bed every time she cries. She doesn't need that."

"Bugger off," Fred said finally trying to move around George, but George shoved him back. Immediately, Fred shoved George back, and George raised his fist to punch Fred, but before his fist could make impact, there was a force driving itself between them.

"_Protego!_" Shouted a voice from the doorway behind them and Fred and George were both sent flying backward and landed on the floor, George narrowly missed the wall behind him.

"What the hell is going on?" Casey shouted at the two of them, striding into the room, her wand still drawn.

"Nothing," George said as he brushed himself off and stood up.

"Just joking around is all," Fred agreed as he rubbed his head that had hit the floor. George returned his smile in order to cover up the true nature of their row, but Casey raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"That didn't look like a joke," Casey said.

"Well, get your eyes checked, Case," Fred said, standing up. Normally Casey may glare or even laugh at such a comment, but this time Casey's face fell slightly, leaving Fred to wonder if maybe his tone had been a little harsh.

"Sorry," Casey murmured. "It just looked like a real fight." George reached her first, placing an arm around her shoulder.

"No matter, Case," George said cheerily. "That was a nice bit of magic there, powerful. Wouldn't you say, Fred?"

"Absolutely was," Fred said, though he was unable to mimic George's cheer.

* * *

The three of them went down to breakfast where Mrs. Weasley and Alex were already sitting, Alex barely having touched any food that was on her plate.

"Morning," Casey said, sitting next to her. Alex, who was already dressed in all black, looked the opposite of her sister. While Casey seemed more energetic and cheery than she had been in the last few days, Alex seemed more gray, tired, and horrified. She lightly nodded at Casey and the twins.

"Eat up," Mrs. Weasley said, moving to get Casey a plate of sausages, eggs, and toast. "We'll have you two catching a port key in an hour and a half, you need to eat quickly!"

"Port key to where?" Casey asked, digging in to her eggs.

"Your grandfather's funeral will be taking place in Ireland," Mrs. Weasley said softly. "He'll be buried with the rest of your ancestors where the Casey family used to live. Casey's face fell a little, and suddenly she didn't want to eat her eggs anymore.

"Mum, the four of us will be using the port key, right?" Fred asked.

"No, dear," Mrs. Weasley looked confused. "You and Fred will be staying home."

"No, we're going with!" George shouted. "That's why we're back here, to support our friends, we have to go with them."

"We can't make them go alone," Fred agreed.

"Fred, George, you didn't know the man." Mrs. Weasley said fiercely. "Be respectful."

"No, Mrs. Weasley," Casey said. "They're fine, really. It might be nice to have them there. Our grandpa always liked Fred and George, even though he only met them once. He heard a lot about them, I'm sure he'd want them there."

"Yeah, Mum, come on." Fred said.

"Fine," She said softly. "But you behave yourselves. If I hear you've done _anything _inappropriate, you can forget ever leaving this house again."

* * *

It was an exceptionally sunny day, the air warm and gentle upon Casey's face as she stared at emerald green hills rolling into the distance. The sky was more blue than it had been in weeks and there were birds singing as they flew merrily over; nothing seemed to care that her grandfather was dead, and that she now was forced to confront it. Time could pass without a care while she stood rooted to the ground, a stone sinking slowly in her chest, her lungs turning to ice but her heart beating persistently despite that.

A hand gently fell on her shoulder, and she turned to see Fred standing next to her.

"All right?" Fred asked.

"As much as I can be," Casey whispered. "I just need to get this over with."

Casey, Fred, George, and Alex sat in wooden chairs set up before a black casket where they grandfather lay, lifeless. They situated themselves in the middle, though there were not many people at the funeral, so there were merely empty chairs between Casey and the casket. As the short wizard next to the casket began to speak, Casey's mind shut off. She couldn't bear to hear it. Alex started to cry quietly next to her, and she reached her hand down to grab her sister's and squeezed it. They felt the same pain, but Casey could not bear to express it. Without thinking, she reached her other hand down to grab Fred's hand, who returned her squeeze without pause and kept holding hers throughout the funeral. Casey's mind was elsewhere, but she was not entirely sure where, until she suddenly felt that someone was watching her. Her mind came back into sharp focus and she felt her heart beat faster. She tried to ignore the feeling, but it wouldn't budge, and an itching traveled up her neck.

Slowly, she turned to glance behind her. There were two rows of witches and wizards that she did not recognize who were staring straight ahead.

_See? _Casey thought. _You're imagining things. _But before she turned her gaze back to the front, a man in a dark cloak in the very back corner caught her eye. He was a tall man, but he wore his hood over his eyes so his face stood in shadow. His hands rested upon a sleek black cane. Casey squinted slightly at the man's hands. They looked familiar...white, long, and slender like her grandfather's hands.

Casey froze. _Like her grandfather's hands. _Casey snapped her gaze back to the front to stare at the casket.

_Could it be him? _Casey thought frantically. _Could her grandfather be alive after all and sitting only two rows away? _Casey turned back to look at the man, only for her heart to sink again. The man was too tall to be her grandfather. But those hands...

Casey stared at the man longer, and she noticed his head twitch a little, and it looked as though he were now staring back at her even though she couldn't see his eyes. His hands twitched slightly on his cane, as though he were ready at any moment to hurl it at her if she made sudden movements. Casey quickly turned and stared ahead, panic rising in her throat.

_Atius. _Casey had never seen her Uncle Atius before, but there was no mistaking those hands, they looked exactly like her grandfather's, but her grandfather lay dead in the casket before her. Who else would need to come to a funeral wearing a hooded cloak to hide his face other than a Death Eater and her grandfather's murderer.

"Fred," Casey whispered through her teeth. "Fred."

"What?" Fred mouthed as he turned to her, looking concerned. The wizard in front raised his wand and began to magic her grandfather's casket into the ground. Alex let her face fall into her hands.

"It's him, Fred," Casey whispered. "He's here." The casket was now out of sight, but Casey was not watching.

"Who?" Fred asked, confused.

"My uncle Atius. He's here, in back." Casey whispered. But as Fred turned to look, the witches and wizards behind them were rising from their seats. The funeral was over. George remained in his seat, gently rubbing Alex's shoulders while she cried, but Casey sprang out of her seat and pulled her wand from her robes and turned as quickly as she could to bolt to the last row of chairs. Only after a few panicked strides, she noticed that the man in the hooded cloak was no longer there. He had disappeared.

"Casey," Fred had chased after her and held her shoulders from behind her. "What's going on?"

"He was here, Fred," Casey nearly shouted. "My uncle Atius was sitting here, I know it was him!" As if someone had ripped away whatever bandage was on her heart, floodgates opened, letting loose a powerful gust of anger and pain, and she fell to her knees, sobbing.

* * *

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading, and thank you for the favorites and follows, I appreciate it! Sorry this one is a little shorter. If you're reading, please review with comments or questions, I'd love to hear from you!**


	10. Chapter 10: Friends

"Professor, I swear it was him," Casey pleaded. She was sitting before Professor Dumbledore in his office. After her grandfather's funeral, Fred had dragged her back to the Portkey to go back to the Burrow despite her outburst. That night she had insisted that she had to go back to Hogwarts the next day despite Mrs. Weasley's insisting that she should stay at the Burrow for the rest of the week. Immediately upon arriving back at Hogwarts, she had demanded to speak to Dumbledore and he politely sat with her, listening to her speaking a mile-a-minute about who she allegedly saw at her grandfather's funeral.

"I really did," Casey insisted, interrupting Dumbledore's appraising look. "I know it was him, Professor. It was Atius."

"I do not doubt you," Dumbledore said quietly. "What makes you think it was him?"

"His hands." Casey burst. "He had the same hands as my grandfather. And he was cloaked to hide his face and he disappeared when the funeral was over. He escaped because he saw me looking at him." Casey set her jaw determinedly. Despite how ridiculous she knew she sounded, she was certain she was right.

"It is not impossible that Atius was at your grandfather's funeral," Dumbledore said. "You could very well be right."

"Why would he go?" Casey asked, swallowing nervously, eager that Dumbledore believed her. "Do you think he was after Alex and I?"

"One cannot be certain whether he was planning to attack you or your sister, but it is unlikely that he would do so publicly at your grandfather's funeral." Dumbledore told her. "Perhaps he was at the funeral because there was a small part of him that missed his brother and felt sorry for what he did."

"Fat chance," Casey spat. "He's a Death Eater. He doesn't feel sorry."

"Do not be so quick to hand out judgments. There may be much more to your uncle than him being a Death Eater. Humans tend to be much more complex than our labels of good and evil." Casey stared back at Dumbledore, understanding his intentions, but there was no way she could feel sorry for the man who murdered her grandfather. She refused.

"What do we do?" Casey asked.

"For the moment, there is not much we can do." Dumbledore told her. "If anything unusual happens, tell me immediately, but you will be safe at Hogwarts." Casey had to drop her eyes from Dumbledore's gaze because she could barely restrain herself from raising an incredulous eyebrow. After all, Sirius Black had gotten into Hogwarts the year before, who was to say that Atius couldn't?

Casey left Dumbledore's office feeling even more agitated than before despite the fact that he was the first one to believe her. Even Alex had denied that she had seen her great uncle, reminding her that she hadn't been sleeping well lately. Casey had insisted that she knew it was Atius at the funeral, but no one seemed to want to hear it, and now Dumbledore insisted that she simply sit still and attend her classes as if nothing had happened.

Casey took a deep breath and stopped walking. She hadn't eaten all day and was terribly dizzy. It was a Sunday and there was no class, so people were out in the grounds enjoying the beautiful weather, but Casey only wanted to sleep. Whenever she attempted to sleep, however, she was haunted by nightmares.

When she arrived back in the Common Room, Fred and George were sitting in a corner, huddled over a piece of parchment. They were nearly the only ones in the Common Room, as many people were out in the grounds.

"What are you doing?" Casey asked as she approached. Fred and George snapped their heads to look at Casey, started, and George immediately pulled the piece of parchment away and into the pocket of his robes. "What is that?" Casey asked.

"Nothing," George shrugged. "Just finishing it up."

"Is it for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Casey asked. "Can I see?"

"No, it's not quite ready," George said, but his tone indicated that she'd never get to see whatever was on the parchment. "But there are things we need to work on, especially those canary cremes. Shall I get formula and notes we have?"

"Yes, George," Fred insisted, a little too quickly. "Great idea. Want to join, Casey?"

"Sure, Fred." Casey said, summoning a chair to sit in with the twins. As George trotted up the stairs to his dormitory, Casey turned to Fred.

"What was that about?" Casey asked.

"Nothing." Fred said, not meeting her eyes.

"Fred," Casey said, leaning forward. "You can tell me."

"Casey, it's nothing." Fred repeated. "Drop it." Casey was taken aback by the sharp tone in his voice.

"Why won't you tell me what it is?" Casey asked. "What are you two up to?"

"Casey, stop it." Fred said. "It's really nothing, can you stop asking?" Casey sat back in her chair, feeling oddly saddened by how Fred had responded to her questions. Fred told her everything.

"Oh," Casey cleared her throat. "Okay." Fred didn't respond to her, instead he pulled a book from his bad.

_Homework?_ Casey thought. _He's pulling out homework? To avoid me?_

"Fred?" Casey asked, causing Fred to look up. Casey had been avoiding the fact that she had spent the night in Fred's bed, but due to Fred's behavior, she thought it may be best to bring it up. "About the other night..."

"Don't worry about it," Fred said, barely holding eye contact with her. "You needed me, it's okay."

"I just wanted to t-" Casey started, but Fred interrupted her.

"Casey, we're _friends_." The way his voice emphasized the word made it seem so final.

"I..." Casey stammered. She had sensed that there was a little more than that going on with she and Fred, and she had started to get used to the idea. "I thought..."

"I don't want you to think I got the wrong idea," Fred said. "I know that you were scared and needed a friend, so that's what I was being. I wasn't trying to do anything with you or...I was only being a friend."

"Okay," Casey said, breathless. At that moment, George approached them with a handful of parchment. He was eyeing Fred suspiciously, but Casey didn't wait to see if he'd heard their conversation.

"I don't feel so well," Casey said. "I'm going to go and try and sleep some." She stood up so quickly that she felt dizzy and nearly fell backward. George reached a free arm out to steady her.

"Casey, you need to eat something." George said, his arm around her shoulders. "We can go down to the kitchens and get something for you."

"No, that's okay," Casey reassured him. "I'm not hungry, just tired. Sorry." She moved away from George, striding over to the staircase to her dormitory, silently cursing herself for being such an idiot. How could she have misread things? Of course Fred was only being a good friend.

She was relieved to find her dormitory empty. She say heavily on her bed, choking back tears of frustration and exhaustion. Too much had happened that week.

* * *

George sat down in the armchair that Casey had just vacated.

"What was that about, mate?" George asked, setting the scraps of parchments down on his lap.

"Nothing," Fred said, reaching over to grab a scrap of parchment form George. George picked up the scraps and pulled them out of Fred's reach.

"Now, now, brother," George insisted. "Casey looked a worse after talking to you, and that's not saying much...she didn't look so great to start off with. What happened?"

"She brought up the other night," Fred sighed. "So I told her that I wasn't trying anything, that we were just friends."

"So you lied to her?" George asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No," Fred said. "I didn't _lie_. I really wasn't trying to do anything. I _was _being her friend."

"But you told her you only think of her as a friend?" George confirmed.

"Yeah," Fred sighed. "Yeah, I did."

"So you did lie."

"George, I can't fancy my best friend," Fred said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Nonsense, you're doing a pretty good job of it right now!" George said.

"You know what I mean, George." Fred shot back. "This is impossible, it would never work."

"Why are you being such a prat?" George asked, leaning forward to give Fred a push on the shoulder. "This isn't very Fred Weasley of you at all. If you like her, do something about it."

"Are you thick?" Fred said. "She's my _best friend_. It's different, she's not just 'some girl.'"

"Fine," George said, sitting back in his chair. "So instead you're going to lie to her and pine after her because you're scared? That's what's thick, Fred."

"George, you don't understand it." Fred dismissed him. "You've never fancied your best friend."

"That's because you and Lee are my best friends," George said. "Who could fall for you trolls?"

"Shut it," Fred said. "Seriously, George, she's amazing, and she deserves someone perfect, and that's not me."

"Is it really your job to decide what she deserves, mate?" George asked.

"Maybe not," Fred shrugged. "But I'm not going to pursue her so I can ruin our friendship. Now can we work on these Canary Cremes?"

"Fine, fine," George said, handing the scraps of parchment back to Fred. "But please remember that I think you're being a git about this."

* * *

The month of September flowed by without much eventful other than a chill finally arriving in the air, and Casey remained in her zombie state. She had began to avoid the Weasley twins a little more, so she would eat very quickly and speak politely with them and run to either the library or class. She did what she had to do to scrape by in classes and avoided most of her professors as well, especially Mad-Eye Moody.

She had been frequenting the library in order to research her ancestry, more specifically her Great Uncle Atius, and the Death Eaters to try and discover the whereabouts of her grandfather's murderer. Most of her nights spent searching left her with no new information, dry and stinging eyes, and a very angry Madam Pince shooing her out of the library as it closed.

On a day in mid-October, Casey entered Snape's dungeon for her Potions lesson with her eyes still sore from the lack of sleep due to her futile research the night before. As she began to set up her cauldron, Cedric walked into the dungeons, laughing with some of friends, but he set up his cauldron next to Casey as usual.

"Hey, Casey," He said, flashing his brilliant smile at her.

"Hey Cedric," She answered, trying her best to return a smile.

"All right?" Cedric asked. "You look like you haven't slept in a while." Embarrassed that she very obviously looked sleep-deprived, Casey shrugged.

"I'm fine, Cedric," She said. "Just a lot of studying."

"Take care of yourself, now," Cedric grinned. "If you aren't well enough to make it to class, I'll have no one to brew my potions for me and I'll fail the course."

"You're improving, though," Casey laughed. "I think you may be better than I am soon!"

"Oh, stop," Cedric said, and he began to laugh as well. "You're amazing, I could never be better than you. I am your humble apprentice."

"The student surpasses the teacher," Casey grinned. "You never know." Cedric smile slowly faded as he looked at her.

"Really, though, you are taking care of yourself, aren't you?" Casey was taken aback by Cedric being so seriously concerned.

"Oh, I, uh," She stammered. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Really? You haven't seemed so fine," Cedric said. "I know it's none of my business, but I just hope you're okay. I'm really sorry for what happened, and I want to help you out. You know, if you need it." Cedric was as sincere as Casey had ever head anyone, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Cedric." She answered. "It's been hard, but I'll be okay."

"Glad to hear it," Cedric whispered as Snape came sauntering in, looking as bad a mood as ever, ordering for them to get their ingredients out for making poison antidotes.

That Potions lesson had been the most fun Casey had had since returning to Hogwarts, for she and Cedric joked in whispers the entire time, and at one point they even pranked their classmates by making one of Cedric's friend's porcupine quills fly out of his hands whenever he tried to put them in his cauldron.

"I can't believe they didn't even notice it was us," Cedric roared with laughter as he and Casey left the dungeons behind his frustrated friends. "Fantastic!"

"That was excellent wandwork, Diggory," She teased. "Much better than your potions I'm afraid."

"Hey, Snape didn't say too many bad things about my antidote!" Cedric defended himself.

"Yeah, but did you see his face?" Casey asked him. "He _hated _your potion! He was so happy that you didn't do it right!"

As they entered the Great Hall for dinner, Casey paused.

"Hey, Cedric," She said. "I wanted to ask you a weird question,"

"Go ahead," Cedric said politely.

"Well," Casey swallowed nervously. "I was wondering if you'd like to go to the Three Broomsticks with me this weekend, maybe. Or we could go somewhere else...if you want." Casey looked down at her feet and back up at Cedric, who was no longer smiling.

"Casey, I'm sorry," Cedric said softly, making Casey's heart jolt nervously. "I have a girlfriend, kind of, and, well..."

"No," Casey said, recovering quickly. "It's fine, Cedric, I understand."

"I really am sorry," Cedric said, grimacing.

"It's okay, Cedric," Casey insisted, reaching a hand to touch his shoulder. "Really, no worries."

"All right," Cedric said, smiling. "Still friends?"

"Yeah, friends," Casey smiled back. "That is, if you're done considering me nothing but your potions slave."

"Not a chance," Cedric joked. "See you later!"

Feeling a little confused and shell-shocked, Casey walked over to the Gryffindor table where the twins where already sitting. She wasn't sure what had made her ask Cedric out on a date, but she had been almost sure he would say yes. Sighing, she shook off the blow and sat down with the twins who were in a deep conversation about Quidditch.

**Another short one, but I hope you liked it! Please review if you're reading, I'd love to know what you're thinking! Thanks! **


	11. Chapter 11: You're not just some girl

Standing outside of Filch's office, Casey looked around the corner. Despite her impatience, there was still nothing there, but she could hear a loud clanging in the distance. She looked down the corridor to her right, where she saw two redheads jogging toward her. As Fred and George neared her, she held her index finger to her mouth, silently hushing them, and then she jolted her thumb behind her to Filch's office. He was still in there, humming softly to Mrs. Norris. As she did so, Fred and George nodded and slowed down, ducking behind the corner of the nearest corridor opposite of the office, peaking their heads so they could just see her. As the clanging got closer, Peeves came into view. He was singing a song with obscene language and throwing about pots and pans that he must have stolen from the house elves in the kitchen. Casey turned to the twins and nodded, signaling for them to back up into the corridor and escape if need be. Casey took out her wand and muttered the incantation for a disillusionment charm while tapping her wand to her head, and, much to her surprise, she felt a cool sensation down her body and saw that she indeed, was invisible.

"PEEVES!" She heard Filch yell, and he stormed out of his office to chase Peeves away. Casey dodged Filch and just barely missed him, but as he chased Peeves down the corridor away from his office, Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, stood staring straight up at her. At that very moment, however, Fred and George made a loud clanging noise down the other corridor, causing Mrs. Norris to dart in their direction. As she turned the corner, Casey strode into Filch's office.

She quickly pushed her hand down into her pocket to pull out a few canary cremes that Fred and George had just perfected, along with a note that Casey herself had forged from Madam Pince. The note said that she had made the creme puffs for Filch and that she hoped he liked them and that he, Filch, would meet her in the library after hours. As Casey hastily left the card and cremes on Filch's cluttered desk, she could hear Filch's voice echoing as he was coming back down the corridor toward his office.

Casey quickly leaped out of the office and around the corner away from Mrs. Norris, who waited at the door for Filch.

"Got rid of him, my pretty," He muttered softly to his cat. "We'll have to remember to tell Dumbledore about that, won't we? Stealing from the house elves..." He entered his office and shut the door softly so that it remained ajar. Casey quickly whispered the counter to the disillusionment charm and felt herself become visible again. She darted toward the corridor where she had last seen Fred and George. When she turned the corner she saw both of them, muttering and waiting next to the wall.

"Did you do it?" George asked.

"Did it work?" Fred asked.

"I got it on the desk. Let's watch." Casey said gesturing for them to peak around the corner with her. Just as the three had maneuvered themselves so they could all see around the corner without exposing too much of themselves to Filch if he were to burst from his office, they heard a very loud squawk.

"Yes," Fred whispered excitedly. Filch burst from his office, or what they assumed to be Filch because what threw itself out of Filch's office looked like a giant canary.

"Yes!" George whispered. Luckily, Filch the canary was looking the other way and didn't see them. Their excitement was amplified when Mrs. Norris leaped out of the office after the canary, seeming to forget that it had once been her loving master, and she pounced on him. Filch continued to squawk and try and scramble away from his cat until he finally began to molt his feathers.

"Get off, Mrs. Norris!" He yelled, his voice still hinted with a squawking noise.

"Go..." Casey whispered to the twins. "We've got to-"

"Who did it, my pretty?" Filch asked his cat once she had finally calmed down. Meanwhile, Fred, George and Casey backed away from the corner and tried their best to walk as quickly and quietly away from the scene as possible.

"Amazing!" George cried once they were safely far away from Filch's office. "That worked even better than I thought!"

"And Filch was the perfect test subject!" Fred exclaimed.

"That was really awesome," Casey agreed. "Amazing job, you guys."

"We couldn't have done it without you!" Fred exclaimed, clapping her on the back.

"Yeah, without your craftmanshift-"

"-And your perfect execution-"

"The prank wouldn't have been nearly as perfect!" George finished, giving Casey a high-five.

"But where would I be without my mischievous masterminds?" Casey smiled. "You two came up with all of it, after all. And getting Peeves in on it? Genius work that only a Weasley could pull off."

"Well, we appreciate the compliment, Case." Fred said, slipping an arm around their shoulder as they continued to walk down the corridor. Casey thought she saw George eye linger on Fred's arm around her with a small smile, but as soon as she noticed it, it was gone. Perhaps Fred noticed too because he quickly brought his arm back to his side.

"Sure you won't help us concoct anything for the secret judge, Case?" George asked, breaking the brief silence. Casey sighed. This had been a topic that had come up a lot in the last month now that the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were arriving tonight, and the judge who would pick the champions of each school would be presented.

"No, I'm not helping you," Casey said, but she couldn't help but smile. She had gotten over her frustrations and anger with Fred and George and now she was just amused that they were still so obsessed with joining the Triwizard Tournament.

"I wonder how the other students are getting here?" Fred said.

"Dunno," George responded. "Maybe they'll fly on broomsticks."

"I doubt it, that's too far to fly." Casey said.

"How do you know where the schools are?" George asked. "Are you holding out on us?"

"I don't know where they are," Casey laughed. "But I know they're both far enough away that the students wouldn't fly. Don't be thick, George."

"That's asking a lot of him, Case." Fred joked. "Be careful. You might confuse him."

"All right, if they're not flying, what are they doing?"

"Maybe they're using a port key?" Casey wonder aloud.

"That wouldn't work with too many people, though." George said.

"They could use more than one?" Fred proposed.

"No, that'd be too complicated." Casey shook her head. "I suppose we'll just have to see."

"Won't be too long, though," Fred said excitedly. "The feast begins in an hour and they'll be coming around then."

* * *

The hour went faster than usual as Fred, George and Casey joked around in the common room until it was time to walk down to the feast. As they gathered outside the castle with the rest of the students and waited for the students from the other schools to arrive, Casey shivered impatiently.

"Are you cold?" Fred asked. Without waiting for an answer, he slipped off his jacket and handed it to Casey.

"Fred, no," Casey said, though she was rather cold. "You're barely wearing anything under that, put it back on."

"I'm not cold." Fred insisted, attempting to push the sweater on her.

"Stop it," She laughed. "Seriously, I don't need it."

"You're lying through your teeth, you're freezing." Fred said. "Here, I can help." He slipped the jacket over her shoulders for her. "Better?"

"I guess it's okay," Casey murmured, trying her best not to smile back at him.

"Oh, come off it," Fred laughed. "That is the warmest sweater I've got. You're just embarrassed that I was right, as usual."

"Come on, take it back," Casey said, trying to push the jacket off of her shoulder, but before she could get it off there were several gasps as people started pointing to the sky. Casey looked up to a huge carriage flying through the air being pulled by massive palomino horses.

"Woah," Casey said, wide-eyed. Even in the wizarding world, she had never seen anything like it. As the carriage landed before them, there was enthusiastic chattering and gasps that indicated that many people were just as impressed as she was.

"Blimey," George said. Before he could say anything else, however, because a large woman emerged from the carriage, ushering more gasps.

"Bloody hell," Fred whispered. "That is a large woman." Casey stared at the woman who was nearly as large as Hagrid, who until now, was the largest person Casey had ever known without any competition whatsoever. Her olive skin glowed brilliantly in the moonlight as she greeted Dumbledore and Casey could tell she was a woman of excellence. Students in powder blue robes crowded out of the carriage behind their headmistress, and they looked shocked at the chill of the evening.

"Well, that was definitely no broom." Fred chuckled.

"I'll say it wasn't," Casey said, shaking her head in wonder. "I wonder if Durmstrang will arrive the same way?"

They waited anxiously for Durmstrang to arrive, everyone looking impatiently to the sky. After about five minutes of waiting, Casey heard a light splashing growing more loud and restless from the lake. Distractedly, Casey looked over to the lake and thought she may be hallucinating, for she saw a shadow emerging from the lake.

"Guys," She muttered, tugging on Fred's arm. "Look."

"The lake!" Someone shouted, and everyone shifted their gaze to view what appeared to be a giant ship rising from the depths of the lake.

"Oh my god," Casey muttered, her mouth agape.

"Brilliant!" George cried.

An older man with graying hair and a crooked smile emerged from the ship and came to greet Dumbledore.

"Must be the headmaster." Casey murmured.

"You think?" Fred looked appraisingly toward the slender man. "I thought maybe he was a student."

"You prat," Casey laughed, attempting to scowl at Fred's satisfied smirk. As she smiled up to him, she couldn't help but notice how brilliant his brown eyes looked while gleaming in the light of the moon. He stared back with a grin, perhaps admiring the gleam of hers, but they were interrupted by George's voice.

"It's _Krum_." George nearly shouted, pointing at the crowd of students coming from the ship. Casey and Fred looked to where George was pointing and sure enough, it was the famous Quidditch player Viktor Krum.

"He's still in school?" Casey asked as he slumped by with a grumpy look on his face.

"I guess," Fred muttered. "I knew he was young but I had no idea he was still in school."

"Blimey," George said. "I'd love to get to talk with the bloke."

"He doesn't look like he's in a good enough mood to talk," Casey commented.

"He doesn't need to be," Fred insisted. "He's a famous quidditch player."

* * *

The feast was even better than usual, as there was a lot of new and interesting foods added to the usual dishes. Casey found some paella and eagerly went to try it while Fred and George suspiciously eyed some cassoulet. Angelina and Alicia were much more interested in the foreign students, however.

"Look at that one," giggled Alicia, pointing to a particularly handsome blonde Durmstrang student sitting at the Hufflepuff table.

"Ooh," Angelina cooed while examining him. "Look at him, though!" She pointed at the student across from him who had a shaggy head of dark curls.

"You two are ridiculous," Casey laughed between bites of bouillabaise. "You can't even see his face and he's sitting down."

"But his hair," Angelina whined. "The two of your children would make beautiful children." She commented as she tousled Casey's black curls. This caused Fred to look at her with an appraising look.

"Come off it," Casey said, pushing Angelina's hand away while laughing. "I'm not into slavic men. But that one," Casey gestured to a Beauxbaton student with olive skin who looked like he may be Spanish or Italian. "Now _he's _a sight." Angelina and Alicia cheered for her and patted her on the back. Fred, however, looked a little sullen throughout the rest of the feast.

After the feast, Dumbledore welcomed the guests and introduced Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman, judges for the Triwizard tournament. At the mention of Bagman's name, Fred and George stiffened.

"Is that him?" Casey whispered. "The one who scammed you?"

"Yeah," Fred muttered. "But it's fine, don't worry about it." Fred's tone was sharp and final, so Casey left the subject alone. She faced forward to see Dumbledore holding a box and heaving it onto a stool in front of the hall. As he opened it up, he pulled out a large goblet.

"This," Dumbledore spoke. "Is the Goblet of Fire. It is was will be choosing the three champions for the Triwizard tournament." As he continued to explain the process, Fred and George's face lit up.

* * *

"Brilliant," Fred muttered as they left the Great Hall. "An age line?"

"That's too easy," George beamed. "We'll be able to enter for sure."

"Are you two thick?" Casey scowled. "Dumbledore isn't stupid. He's one of the most powerful wizards in the world. You won't be able to get past that age line."

"Ah, well that's where you come in, love." Fred said boldly. "We'll use an Aging potion."

"An Aging potion?" Casey repeated. "Now I know you're thick. An Aging potion isn't going to work, and I'm not going to make it for you."

"Come on, Case," Fred pleaded.

"Why not?" George asked.

"I told both of you that I wasn't going to be involved in helping you entering the tournament and making a potion for you is exactly that."

"But, Casey, what if we mess up the potion ourselves and hurt ourselves that way?" George proposed. "Wouldn't that be just as bad?"

"No, it'd be a lesson to not be so stupid." Casey snapped. "And it'd be your fault, not mine."

"Fine then, suit yourself." Fred answered, looking far more angry than Casey would have expected. When they got to the common room, Fred went up to bed with a curt "'Night." and left she and George near the common room. Casey felt her chest deflate a little in disappointment. She had been enjoying that her relationship with Fred was back to normal and was hoping to spend more time with him before going to bed.

"Don't worry about him, Case." George said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He's just a bit sour lately."

"What going on?" Casey asked, looking up to George.

"It may have something to do with you looking at those Beauxbaton students and choosing your future husband."

"What?" Casey asked.

"Now you're being thick," George smiled. "It's obvious. Do you not know?"

"What do you mean?" Casey asked suspiciously.

"He fancies you." George stated. "And by the looks of it you fancy him back, and he's frustrating the hell out of you."

"I mean, he's...I don't, I don't _fancy _him." Casey stammered. "We're friends. Best friends."

"You sound a lot like him." George chuckled. "But I'm not stupid, Case. Well, according to you I may be, but I am definitely not blind. These eyes see all, and they've seen you two growing closer and sneaking more looks at each other and even sleeping together a few times."

"George, we didn't do anything!" Casey defended herself.

"I know," George said calmly. "But that doesn't mean he doesn't fancy you. Maybe he wanted to do something."

"George, we've talked about that." Casey said.

"And he said?"

"He said we were just friends and that he was only being the friend that I needed."

"Which doesn't necessarily mean, 'I don't fancy you.' In fact, it sounds like he was just trying to cover his arse in case you woke up from your state of grief and thought he was taking advantage of you." George pointed out.

"What?" Casey wasn't sure how to respond.

"That's what I thought at first, that he was taking advantage of you, and we had a row about it. But you know, I don't think so anymore. I know Fred cares about you, Case. He loves you as a friend, so I imagine he's not sure what to think of the whole situation. As you probably aren't either. But would it really be so bad if he did fancy you?"

"No," Casey admitted softly. George grinned.

"That's what I thought,"

"But George, this isn't how he is with girls he likes," Casey said. "You and him are both so flirtatious and always are pursuing someone or other and snogging anyone you please. This isn't like Fred."

"Maybe," George shrugged. "But I don't think it's unlike him. He cares about you."

"Because we're friends." Casey repeated.

"Casey," George said, looking her in the eye. "You're not just some girl for him."

"Has...has he said something to you?" Casey asked, trying not to sound too eager.

"He hasn't necessarily admitted anything," George said. "But if he did, I'm not the messenger. You two have to figure this out on your own."

"George, you can't know-"

"Rubbish." George said. "Of course I know. I'm his twin. I know everything about him."

Casey looked at her feet, a nervous pounding in her chest. "I guess."

"I'm going to bed," George said. "But don't worry about him, Case. He could never stay mad at you, I promise. Now get some sleep."

"Thanks, George." Casey said, hugging him. "Good night."

At that, Casey turned and went up the staircase to her dormitory where Angelina and Alicia had already turned out the lights and laid down for bed. She changed into some pajamas and settled into her four-poster, her heart still beating fast. Feeling like a fool, she finally let herself grin and feel a burst of glee in her chest now that she was safe and alone in her bed. She clutched her blankets to her chest as she shut her eyes, remembering Fred's hand stroking her hair as she had drifted off to sleep as she was doing now.

**Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it! Please review if you have comments or questions, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks to all who have followed, favorited, or reviewed! I'll try to get the next one out soon!**


	12. Chapter 12: Flirting with Madam Pomfrey

Gazing into the mirror, Casey stood with her wand pointed at her hair, already starting to wince.

"Well, do it already!" Angelina shouted at her, laughing. "You've been talking about for weeks, get on with it!"

"Don't you want to wait, though?" Alicia asked, wincing harder than Casey. "You could have someone who knows what they're doing-"

"I know what I'm doing," Casey insisted, shifting her wand to the right but making no attempt to actually cut her hair like she'd been preparing to do for weeks.

"Doesn't look like it."Angelina snickered, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall behind her.

"You aren't making this easier!" Casey said. Then, before she could process it, she muttered a charm and _snip. _One curl fell to the floor, leaving her with one curl much shorter than the rest, ending just under her chin.

"That wasn't so hard, see!" Casey triumphed, setting her wand down and gathering the rest of her curls into one hand in order to observe the solitary shorter curl resting next to her face. "I think it'll look good." Without the reluctance she had before, she picked her wand back up and snipped each curl one by one, leaving her with with a shiny black bob of curls.

"I'm impressed, Case," Angelina said, staring into the mirror next to her. "It looks better than I thought it would."

"Better?" Alicia smiled. "That's an understatement! It looks amazing."

"Thanks," Casey smiled, squinting slightly as she adjusted her part a little to the side. "I'm a bit surprised myself."

"Fred's going to love it." Angelina chirped, smiling mischievously.

"Stop," Casey said, but she didn't put much effort into the word and she began to blush. She fingered her hair a little longer, trying to see how it best looked until she realized she'd be late to meet the twins and Lee like she'd promised if she stayed any longer.

When she got into the common room, she saw George and Lee idling near the fireplace.

"Hey guys!" She greeted them. George and Lee turned to look at her and immediately their eyes widened.

"Case!" Lee nearly shouted. "Look at you!" He stepped forward to touch her hair and George whistled.

"Looking better than ever, Volkova." He mock-flirted. "It's going to be even harder to keep my hands off of you now."

"Oh, knock it off," She giggled, pushing Lee's hands out of her hair. "How would you like it if I did that to you, Jordan?"

"Hey, _I'm _not the beautiful woman," Lee argued. "No one wants to touch my hair."

"No excuse," Casey dismissed him. "You keep your hands off of me unless I tell you to touch me."

"Yes ma'am," Lee answered.

"Where's Fred?" Casey asked, trying to keep her tone as normal as possible. Thankfully, George didn't tease her or even indicate that he remembered their conversation from the night before.

"He's gathering the Aging Potion that we made last night. It's almost done."

"You're not still doing that, are you?" Casey asked.

"Of course we are," George said. "You don't have to help us, Case, but you're not allowed to stop us. Remember?" Casey opened her mouth to argue but George shook his head.

"Seriously, Case, we're going to do this whether you like or not," George insisted. "We've got a chance at one thousand galleons." Casey still wanted to argue, but she knew it was futile and that Fred and George were just as stubborn as she was, if not more so. She shook her head softly but muttered,

"Fine." At that moment, Fred walked up from behind her with two viles of a transparent liquid in his hands.

"It's perfect!" He exclaimed as he came to stand next to Casey. He handed one to George.

"Look at that, Case," George smiled as he pocketed his vile. "These might be even better than yours." At her name, Fred's brow furrowed and he looked down at Casey next to him as if he hadn't even noticed her there. When his eyes fell on her, they widened in shock.

"Case?" Fred continued to stare at her, a petrified look on his face.

"Morning, Fred." Casey laughed. "Is there a problem?"

"No," Fred said, his expression fading back to normal. "No, there's no...but...what did you do to your hair?"

"Oh, didn't you hear? It was a huge fiasco." Casey joked. "A dragon got into our dormitory last night and burned all of my hair off. This was as much as I could grow back." Fred continued to stare at her hair, baffled.

"We think she looks beautiful," George offered Fred, shaking him from his concentration on Casey's new haircut.

"I-" Fred stammered. "I think it's beautiful, I just-I was-" He said while giving George a pleading look.

"He's speechless," George told Casey with a laugh. "C'mon, let's go down to give this potion a try. Got the parchment, Fred?"

"Yeah, I..." Fred said, now completely red in the face, something Casey had never quite seen before. He turned to look at Casey again, squinting as though he were picking his brain about what to say next. Before he could say anything, though, George and Lee stepped toward the portrait hole, so Casey and Fred followed.

"I...I do think it looks good, Casey," He finally muttered as they headed down the corridor. "It's just different. It surprised me."

"Don't worry about it, Fred," Casey said, only slightly disappointed that Fred only used the word 'good' when both George and Lee had described her as beautiful.

When they arrived in the Entrance Hall, they saw the Goblet perched on its stool with several students gathered around it. Angelina, who had rushed ahead of her to get down to the Entrance Hall, was smiling breathlessly.

"I did it!" Angelina beamed, hugging Casey.

"Congratulations, Ange," George said, patting her on the back. "You're one of the lucky few who are old enough?"

"Yeah, turned 17 last week," She said. "I figured I'd give it a try. Are you and Fred still planning on putting your names in?" Angelina glanced at Casey. She had gotten an ear full during the weeks prior about Casey's disapproval of the twins' plans.

"Sure are," Fred said, pulling the Aging potion out of his pocket. Casey glanced over at the goblet and saw a hazy blue line hovering a few inches off of the ground around the stool where the goblet sat. She looked from George to Fred and then her eyes landed on Lee who stood with his hands in his pockets, potion-less.

"You're not going to try?" She asked Lee.

"No," Lee said as Fred and George feverishly wrote their names on scraps of parchment. "My mum would kill me."

"Well, so will theirs," Casey muttered. "Good for you. One less person I have to worry about."

"Do you think it'll work?" Lee asked her as Fred and George inched over to the goblet, preparing to take their potion.

"I don't think there's a chance in hell," Casey said. "But you never know, I suppose?" She and Lee followed Fred and George to find Hermione, Ron, and Harry walking up to the twins as well.

"You're not telling me you're really trying to the Aging potion?" Hermione squeaked incredulously.

"They are," Casey confirmed, glad someone else thought the twins were as stupid as she did.

"It's not going to work," Hermione said, but Ron nudged her lightly.

"Oh, come on, Hermione," Ron said. "Let them try!" Both Hermione and Casey shook their heads in disapproval as Fred and George unstopped their viles. Fred looked back at Casey and winked.

"Here goes," he said to her, and then he and George counted each other down and gulped nearly half of their viles.

"Should they have had all that?" Casey whispered to Lee who merely shrugged. Fred and George waited a moment and looked each other up and down. Nothing had changed about them, but they both nodded and beamed, confident that their Aging potion had an effect. They both stuck their identical legs out in unison over the Age Line and stepped down tentatively, and when nothing happened, they stepped down with the other foot. When they remained planted to the ground, they both cheered jovially and high-fived. Before they could approach the goblet further and place their names in the flames, they were suddenly thrown back away from the goblet and through the air. They hit the ground and slid a few feet outside of the Age Line, and as soon as they stopped, two, enormous white beards sprouted onto their faces. Upon seeing each other, they immediately roared with laughter along with the rest of the students in the hall.

"I did warn you," Came Dumbledore's voice, and Casey turned to see Dumbledore walking into the Hall with an amused grin on his face. "I suggest you go up to Madam Pomfrey. She's tending to some students who have also decided to try and Aging Potion...though I must say," Dumbledore added with a chuckle, "None of their beards look as fine as the two of yours."

Fred and George kept rolling with laughter and mocking each other's beards as they headed for the Hospital Wing.

"Care to join us, Case?" Fred called to her as they neared the staircase.

"I'll be right up," Casey called back, still laughing along with Angelina at the sight of Fred and George with beards that rivaled Dumbledore's. "I want to see who else is entering."

"Right, take notes!" George called to her. "We'll want to try again!" Casey rolled her eyes and turned back to Angelina and the two watched a hoard of Beauxbaton boys strut toward the goblet and place their names within its flames. One particularly handsome boy noticed she and Angelina watching them and nudged his equally handsome friend and they both perked up, giving her and Angelina dazzling smiles. Before Casey could avert her gaze, Angelina smiled back, causing the two to approach them.

"Bonjour, mademoiselles," The blonde boy purred in a deep voice. Angelina nearly giggled and Casey suddenly felt embarrassed for her and a little indignant.

"No hablo francais, lo siento." Casey muttered in Spanish, instantly turning cold.

"What she means," Angelina came in to save the conversation, shooting Casey a brief glare. "Is that it's lovely to meet you. My name is Angelina, and this is Casey."

"Enchante." The blonde said, taking Angelina's hand and kissing it. "My name is Adrien." He went to take Casey's hand and she gave it begrudgingly, letting him kiss it lightly.

"My name is Fernande," The second answered. He was much darker than his friend, and a bit more reserved; he did not reach for the girls' hands but merely smiled.

"Have you entered the tournament?" Adrien asked, but Casey took no notice. At that moment, she saw her ex, Kiran, enter the hall with a few friends, but to her surprise, he was no longer accompanied by the pretty blonde girl that he'd seen him with nearly every time she'd seen him. He had a piece of parchment in his hand and he effortlessly crossed the Age Line to place it in the goblet's flames. Casey immediately wondered why she hadn't thought of this, Kiran was 17 and a talented wizard, why wouldn't he enter the tournament? As she watched him turn and laugh with his friends, she felt the haunting anxious feeling in her stomach and wished there weren't two beautiful french boys in front of her.

"And you?" Casey was torn away from watching Kiran by Adrien asking her a question.

"Excuse me?"

"Did you enter the tournament?"

"No," Casey said, barely getting her voice to remain steady while keeping Kiran in her sight out of the corner of her eye. "I'm 16 until November."

"Quel dommage," Adrien simpered, placing a pitying hand on her shoulder. Instinctively, Casey backed out of his reach and Adrien looked taken aback.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Casey muttered.

"Are you okay?" Angelina whispered.

"I'm fine," Casey lied and she tore away from Angelina and the Beauxbaton boys so that she could get out of the Entrance Hall without Kiran seeing her, but as she nearly collided with him, she realized she'd been a little too late.

"Sorry-" Kiran started, but then recognition dawned on his face. "Casey?"

"Hi," she responded feebly, attempting to swerve past him.

"What did you do to your hair?" Casey stopped and turned back to Kiran who was looking at her as if he just saw a Krupp on fire run by him.

"It was weird," Casey started, barely trying to keep the anger out of her voice. "I woke up this morning and it had detached itself from my head because it wanted to have a little walk." Before turning and leaving him in the middle of the entrance hall she said: "Duh. I cut it."

Storming to the Hospital wing and feeling shaken up, embarrassment flooded her chest. Should she really have snapped at Kiran? She could have just answered him normally and kept walking. Casey shook her head and inhaled deeply to calm her rapidly beating heart. However, as she walked and her anxiety and embarrassment faded, a quiet yet deep feeling of dread settled in her chest like a frozen pool.

She arrived at the Hospital Wing in time to see Madam Pomfrey begin to shave off George's enormous beard. Fred, cleanly shaven and looking as normal as ever was seated on the bed next to him, making jokes directed at his brother, causing George to laugh.

"Now, hold still," Madam Pomfrey sighed, frustrated at George's head jolting one way and the other with laughter. "You'll be missing a lot more than a beard if you don't."

"I'll still be the handsome one," He muttered. "Right, Case?" Hearing her name, Fred turned eagerly toward Casey.

"Hey Casey," Fred smiled, patting the bed next to him for her to sit. As she did so, Fred gave her a dazzling grin. "How do I look?"

"What do you mean?" Casey asked absently.

"What do I mean? I mean, how do I look?" Fred said, lightly stroking his smooth cheek.

"Fred, you're setting yourself up for failure," George said. "You know she thinks I look better, so how you look doesn't matter. Why don't you just let it be?"

"Ignorance is bliss, brother," Fred said. "So I'll let you remain blissful thinking that you're the good-looking one." Casey tried her best to laugh with the twins but felt her insides become even colder.

"You're not off the hook, Case," Fred nudged her shoulder. "I asked you a question, I expect an answer." Casey met Fred's amber eyes and her gaze grazed his lightly freckled nose and newly-smooth cheeks.

"You look great," Casey said, perhaps a little too seriously, but Fred only gave her another dazzling grin.

"Good answer," Fred said, slipping arm around her shoulders. As he did so, something in her chest warmed a little, but did not eradicate the cold feeling of dread and sadness.

"You know, Case," Fred said, leaning away from her a little. "I really do like your hair like that. I didn't really express that very well this morning."

"Thanks," Casey smiled lightly.

"It's beautiful," Fred said, examining her curls and gently reaching over to touch one near her face and brush it to the side. "Sleek, I think. Mature." His eyes met her blue ones for a moment and Fred's expression broke into another smile before Casey looked away. She saw George eyeing them and smiling smugly while Madam Pomfrey finished shaving the last of his beard.

"There you are, Mr. Weasley." Madam Pomfrey said. "Good as new."

"And what do you know, still the handsome one," George said as he looked to his brother. "Wouldn't you say, Poppy?" George winked at Madam Pomfrey, causing her to start.

"Excuse me?" She said, offended, but Casey thought she saw her try and disguise a small smile before glaring at George.

"I asked if-" George started, but Madam Pomfrey continued to glare at him.

"All of you out now." She said sternly. "I have a busy afternoon and I can't have you three in here messing around."

"Daring, George," Casey said as they exited the Hospital Wing. "Flirting with Madam Pomfrey? Are you really that desperate?"

"Hey, she nearly smiled," George laughed. "I think she almost liked it for a moment."

"In your dreams, mate," Fred said.

"The ladies love me." George chuckled. "You can't deny that."

It was not long before they reached the Common Room that Casey noticed Fred and George exchanging uncertain looks.

"Fred, don't we have to work on new order forms?" George said casually.

"Yes, yes we do." Fred answered in a similar over-casual tone. "We'll meet you at lunch, Case?"

"What? Why?" Casey asked. "I can help with order forms. I have better handwriting than you anyway."

"No, Case." Fred started. "We don't need any help. We've got it."

"Fine, I can just do homework while you guys make them then."

"We need privacy." George said finally.

"Why?"

"We just do." Fred answered. "Don't worry about it, it'd bore you."

"What's the big deal about making new order forms that you need privacy?" Casey persisted.

"We're not making order forms," Fred admitted as they entered the Common Room. "But drop it, Case. We don't need you for this one, so stay out of it."

Any warmth that Casey had felt from her interaction with Fred in the Hospital Wing was snuffed and replaced with the same icy feeling of disappointment and sadness that had been there earlier, but this time it was sharper, as if there were an entire plate of ice being wedged between her lungs.

"I don't understand-"

"Casey," George said, his voice much more gentle than Fred's. "We can't tell you right now, we just need to take care of something. Please."

"Fine," Casey exhaled. "Fine." She promptly turned and strode to the staircase to her dormitory as fast as she could, leaving Fred staring apologetically behind her.

"Nice going, mate." George quipped. "You were on a roll in the Hospital Wing, touching her hair and calling her beautiful, but you just blew it."

"I called her _hair_ beautiful," Fred muttered.

"Is that supposed to help your case?"

"No," Fred sighed.

"Exactly. Well, next time you're talking to a girl that you're falling in love with, be a little nicer," George advised. "No drop-its or bug offs."

"I didn't tell her to bug off." Fred defended himself.

"You may as well have."

"Fine, I'll be nicer next time." Fred snapped. "Now let's get working on that letter, we should send it by tomorrow."

* * *

Casey was relieved to find her dormitory empty when she arrived as there were tears welling in her eyes and a horrible pang in her throat that spread down to the large plate of ice in her chest. She sat down on her bed and let out a sob. As she did so, however, she immediately felt pathetic and shameful.

_Quit being such a child. _She thought, taking a deep exhale. _So they don't want you around. Whatever. _But she couldn't not get the horrible pang out of her chest. She couldn't help but wonder how Fred could be so charming and sweet to her the next minute, but then shut her down completely when there was something that he didn't want her involved in.

_Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all. _She thought as she stood up, suddenly realizing how hungry she was due to not actually eating any breakfast this morning. She looked into the mirror and wiped her face, making sure there were no signed that she'd cried and she headed back down the stairs to the Common Room, looking cautiously to see if Fred and George were still there. Luckily, they had relocated to somewhere else, so Casey passed through the Common Room to go grab some toast from the Great Hall.

_What were they doing anyway that was so private? _Casey thought. _There's nothing they don't share with me. _But as she thought that, a memory rose in the back of her head of Fred and George trying to hide something from her earlier this year. She remembered the piece of parchment that Fred and George were so keen on hiding from her the day they'd arrived back at Hogwarts after her grandfather's funeral. _What is so private about a little piece of parchment? _She wondered. She flipped through options in her head, but she couldn't think of anything probable.

When she arrived in the Great Hall, she saw Angelina, Alicia, and Lee Jordan still sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Still here?" Casey said as she sat next to them and took one of the few pieces of toast left over from breakfast.

"Oh, Casey," Angelina simpered. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Casey lied. She certainly still did not feel okay, but she had placed all of the negativity that she could in the back of her mind, leaving nothing but the ice-plate of dread in her chest.

"We saw you and Kiran..." Angelina said softly. Casey's heart dropped a little at the sound of his name, but she attempted not to let that show on her face.

"Yeah, it was fine."

"He didn't look fine." Angelina said. "He looked like you'd slapped him in the face. You didn't slap him in the face, did you?"  
"No, I didn't."

"Should have," Lee muttered and Alicia nodded.

"Probably," Casey agreed. "I just snapped at him because he asked what happened to my hair. He's a prat."

"He was probably taken aback by how amazing it looks!" Angelina beamed. For some reason, this caused Casey to feel even more queasy.

"Who cares?" Casey dismissed the topic all together, stuffing bits of toast with strawberry jam into her mouth. "How'd talking with those french boys go?"

"Good," Angelina giggled. "They left shortly after you did, but they wished me luck for the tournament."

"Better get your wedding vows ready," Casey said.

"They seemed to like you a lot, too," Angelina hinted.

"I'm not interested," Casey said. "That one was really arrogant and the other didn't stick out to me too much either."

"They weren't good enough for you, then?" Lee laughed. "Where's the hope for the rest of the men of the world if not even handsome french men impress you?"

"Men?" Casey scoffed. "Please, they were boys."

"She's just saying that because she already has a lover," Alicia giggled.

"What?" Lee's eyes widened. "What's this about?"

"Tell him, Casey," Angelina nudged her. Casey simply ignored them and reached for another piece of toast. Lee snatched it out of her hand.

"Tell me who it is," Lee threatened, danging the toast away from her. "Or the toast dies."

"Stop it, I don't have a lover." Casey said, grabbing her wand and flicking it lightly, causing the toast to zoom from Lee's hand to hers. She continued to spread strawberry jam onto it.

"Come on, Case," Angelina nearly begged. "Lee _is _Fred's best friend after all, maybe he can give you some advice."

"Wait, you and Fred _are _lovers then?" Lee asked incredulously. "I thought you two were still denying that you even liked each other!"

"We are," Casey said, flustered. "No, I mean, no. No, we're not lovers, and no we're not denying..." Casey trailed off, realizing she'd walked into a trap. The sick feeling was rising in her chest again and she felt the urge to start crying again. Lee, Angelina, and Alicia, however, all smiled at her smugly.

"Fred and I aren't anything." She said in a little too harsh of a tone. "He's a prat, too."

"What?" Angelina asked. "Come on, you _like _him."

"No, I don't." Casey said angrily. "Will you all leave me alone about men? It's like that's all I should care about! What about asking me how my Potions lesson was, or what I'm thinking about doing for a career after Hogwarts?"

"Casey, we didn't mean..."

"Well, maybe if you shut up now and then, you wouldn't spend so much time apologizing for what you didn't mean." Casey snapped, snatching another piece of toast and storming away from the table.

_Good one, Casey. _She scolded herself. _You've alienated yet another group of friends._

* * *

**Hello! Thanks again for reading, and I'm sorry that this one took so long, I've been very busy! But I made this one a little longer. I'll be busy working on the next one in no time. Thanks again for all the reads, favorites, reviews, follows! Please continue to review if you have any questions, comments, or criticisms! **


	13. Chapter 13: A Dark Vision

Casey woke up to a dark and empty dormitory, completely disoriented. She had had another dream about her grandfather, so his voice was still ringing in her ears and she could still see the ghosts of those long, white hands that belonged to not only him, but his murderer. Casey sat up, and reached for her wand that lay on the table next to her bed and lit the room with it. Looking around, she noticed that her bed was still full of parchment and books that she'd fallen asleep on; she'd dedicated the whole day to doing her homework to avoid seeing anyone. Luckily, Angelina and Alicia hadn't come by the dormitory at all. Casey's stomach rumbled and she looked at the clock. It was 8:30, meaning she'd missed dinner and the champions were probably being presented right now. She sighed, moved the books off of her bed and laid back down with a heaving sigh. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she let them; what did she need to be awake for? With her luck, Kiran would be the Hogwarts champion, Fred and George would still be hiding something from her, and Angelina and Alicia would be angry at her outburst from earlier. She floated back to sleep despite an anxious feeling that revived within her.

In a dimly-lit bare room somewhere that Casey could not place, she saw a tall man standing aside a short, plump, balding one near a plush yet dusty armchair.

"You have been foolish, Atius." A voice sounded, but Casey could not locate its source.

"My lord," A smooth, lower voice resounded from the tall man facing the armchair. "I acted on my own personal selfishness. Forgive me."

"Your selfishness could have prematurely alerted those who should not be alerted. Do you want to sabotage my return?" The other voice, high and cold, said. The balding man twitched, but the taller man stayed still as he responded.

"My lord, I desired only to try and rid a barrier for you."

"How, Atius, was the murder of your brother the removal of a barrier to me?"

"My brother did nothing but resist your rise to power, My Lord." The man, Atius, responded.

"And you believe that if he were not murdered, he would have been enough to stop my rise to power? That is foolish, Atius. The old man did not resist me when he was young, he would not resist me now. He was nothing but complacent. You acted selfishly and murdered him not for your master, but due to an old grudge."

"But my Lord, his grandchildren," Atius said, moving closer to the armchair. "His granddaughters could be of use. With Pax dead-"

The high, cold voice coming from the armchair scoffed, cutting off the tall man he called Atius."They'd join forces with their grandfather's murderer?" The cold voice asked. "Don't be foolish, it is clear your motivations were selfish and now you are scrambling for an excuse. Don't lie, you know I will know. Do not let something like this happen again. Had you not been one of my most loyal followers, I'd need to punish you severely."

"Thank you, my Lord." Atius said quietly. The cold, high voice addressed the shorter, balding man, but Casey took no notice, as the taller man, Atius, turned away from the armchair and Casey could see his face. He looked remarkably like her grandfather but younger and much more gaunt, and he had the same slender hands.

Casey regained her thoughts and realized that this could not be a dream. This was real. Despite an aching panic in her chest, she could not move. She remained frozen, unable to wrench herself from this reality. Finally, with a sharp gasp, her eyes burst open and she found herself in her warm, firelit dormitory.

She scrambled out of bed, panic-stricken, and there were fresh tears running down her cheeks. She wasn't sure what to do, but she needed to do something. She had just seen her great-uncle talking to none other than Voldemort.

"Casey?" Angelina called from the other bed. Casey started so violently that she nearly fell to the floor.

"I have to go-" She panted, turning away and striding toward the door.

"Casey, what's wrong?" Angelina rose from the bed and tried to follow her, but Casey slammed the door behind her and jumped down the stairs. With each step her breath quickened, and her lungs felt cold and overused. Casey reached the bottom of the stairs to find nearly every Gryffindor squished in the common room cheering and laughing.

"Casey!" Lee Jordan yelled when he spotted her. "Where have you been? They picked the champions and guess what!"

"Move." Casey managed pushing Lee aside and parting the crowd to reach the portrait hole.

"Casey?" Lee grabbed her arm. "What's happened to you?"

Casey snatched her arm back and pushed forward away from Lee. This caused several people to turn and look at her, bewildered.

"Case," someone called after her, but she bounded out the portrait hole before anyone could reach her. As she walked down the corridor, she began to regain some composure.

_I need to tell Dumbledore. _She thought, but before she could turn the corner, Fred's voice called from behind her.

"Casey, wait!" He bounded after her. "What's happening? Are you okay?" Casey sped up, but could not quite escape Fred; he reached her before she could.

"Fred, I can't talk," She said, her voice still thick with tears. "Go away, I'll talk to you later."

"Slow down, Case." He put his hand on her shoulder and Casey stopped and look up at him fiercely.

"Fred, I have to go." Her voice cracked, but she kept her breath even. Fred ignored her comment.

"Please tell me what's wrong." He said, his face set in a state of concern.

"I saw-" She started, looking down at her feet. She couldn't get herself to continue, to tell Fred what she had seen. "Fred, it's serious. I have to talk to Dumbledore."

"Let me come with, then." Fred said. "You look like you need some support."

Casey looked up at Fred and he stared back. As she stared in silence, Fred's face grew more concerned as he seemed to understand how serious Casey was.

"Talk to me," He whispered, moving closer to Casey. As he did so, tears began to rush over Casey's eyelids and stream down her cheeks. She threw herself into Fred's arms as she began to sob hysterically. He stroked her back as she cried into his chest. Finally, she managed to pull herself away from him, still sobbing, and mutter,

"I saw you-know-who," She choked. "My great-uncle...he was there, and-"

"Casey," Fred said calmly, but his expression was now more concerned than Casey had ever seen it. "Where was this?"

"I..." Casey trailed it. Had she dreamed it? It was too real to be a dream. "It was a dream, but-"

"Casey, are you-"

"It was real, Fred," She nearly shouted at him, pulling herself out of his arms.

"Okay." He answered, nodding. "But you saw it when you were asleep...right?"

"Yes, but-" She started angrily.

"I believe you." Fred placed a hand back on her shoulder and with the other he gently wiped her tears from her cheeks. "It's the wizarding world, I've heard crazier things. But before you go running to Dumbledore's office, you should calm down."

"It's not fair," she squeaked, beginning to sob again and pulling Fred back into an embrace. "He's dead, Fred. My grandfather was all I had and he was killed by his own brother!" Fred said nothing, but he squeezed her gently, bringing his hand up to the back of her head and curling his fingers into her hair.

"I'm so sorry," Fred finally said softly. "It's not fair, you're right." He held Casey until she stopped sobbing and he slowly pulled away from her and looked into her eyes.

"Where does you-know-who play into this? You saw him?"

"My great-uncle was talking to him," Casey managed while rubbing her puffy eyes. "He's alive...but I didn't see him. He was talking to my great-uncle...he was mad that my great uncle killed my grandfather." Fred furrowed his brows.

"And...you're sure it was real?"

"It felt real," Casey said. "It didn't feel like a dream. It felt so real."

"Okay." Fred said, his voice trembling slightly. He looked lost for words, staring at Casey with apprehension.

"I have to tell Dumbledore," Casey said, finally steadying her breath and feeling in control of her body. "If you-know-who is back, he should know."

"I suppose so," Fred nodded, his eyes slightly glazed and his mouth slack. Casey turned away from him to head down the corridor, but Fred kept with her, keeping his promise from before.

"Do you think maybe..." Fred paused as he thought. "Do you think you're a seer?"

"I don't know." Casey answered, shaking her head gently. "I've never been good at Divination...and nothing like this has ever happened before. It didn't really feel like something in the future, either. It felt like it was happening right then, and I was just...there. Watching it happen."

"Interesting," A silence fell between the two of them as they walked, and Fred cleared his throat.

"Case," Fred started. "This is off topic I suppose, but...I'm sorry about how George and I have been acting."

"What do you mean?" Casey asked. She was so distracted by her dream that she had forgotten about the events that had happened earlier in the day.

"We're blackmailing Bagman," Fred explained, though Casey was even more confused by this statement.

"What are you talking about, Fred?" Casey asked as they climbed the staircase to the fifth floor corridor where Dumbledore's office was located. "Why are you blackmailing one of the judges for the Triwizard tournament?"

"He's the bloke that gave George and I leprechaun gold after the Quidditch world cup," Fred continued. "We've been trying to talk to him whenever he's here, but it's no use. He knows we're after him. So we've been composing a letter. We're trying to blackmail him." Realization dawned on Casey and she remembered the papers Fred and George refused to show Casey, and the times that they excluded her.

"Oh," Casey sighed, nodding.

"It was stupid." Fred said adamantly. "George and I were being prats, Casey. You didn't deserve to be treated like that."

"It's okay, Fred," Casey answered. Though it had been a big deal to her earlier that day, she found it hard to care now that she had had a vision of her great-uncle with Voldemort who was supposed to have been dead for the last 13 years.

"It isn't, Case," Fred persisted. "You've been through enough over the last months. We weren't respecting you, and we sure as hell weren't being good friends. We were just worried that you'd be angry with us...and we just didn't want you involved with this in case it gets, you know, dirty."

"Fred, it's okay." Casey stopped momentarily and looked up to Fred's eyes so that he would understand how little the situation was affecting her currently. "Put things in perspective here, Weasley. I'm glad you're sorry, but I'm really not upset or even concerned about that right now."

"Right," Fred nodded and they began to move forward down the corridor toward the stone gargoyles. When they reached the gargoyles, Casey realized she did not know the password.

"Oh, hell," Casey muttered. "Do you know the password?"

"I was under the impression you knew," Fred answered her, glancing around the corridor to see if there was anyone in the corridor who could help them. Unfortunately, there was not.

"Uh...I need to see Dumbledore," Casey spoke to one of the gargoyles. They both merely blinked at her. "Please? It's urgent."

"What does Dumbledore like?" Fred asked her. "What would he make his password?"

"I don't know," Casey responded. She hadn't realized that she actually knew little to nothing about their headmaster. "Dragon's blood?"

"I'm not sure anyone fancies dragon blood enough to make it the subject of a password," Fred muttered, but shrugged. "Dragon blood!" He exclaimed to the gargoyles, but there was still no movement on their part, but Casey was sure she heard one of them snort with amusement.

"I wish I could remember what McGonagall had said when we entered last time..." Casey dug through her memories of entering Dumbledore's office, but only once had she used this entrance, and at that point she was so concerned about whatever bad news she had been about to receive that she could not remember it.

"Volkov, Weasley," A sharp voice rang out behind them. Relieved, Casey turned to see Professor McGonagall behind them, looking stern.

"Professor, I need to see Dumbledore," Casey sighed with relief. "Do you know the password?"

"Why on Earth do you need to see the Headmaster at this hour?" McGonagall asked shrilly.

"Professor, I..." Casey deflated as she realized how ridiculous it would sound if she explained that she'd had a dream and immediately rushed to the headmaster's office.

"Professor, we think that Casey had a vision of sorts," Fred answered for her. "It's urgent that she see Professor Dumbledore."

"Is that so?" McGonagall raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Isn't it Professor Trelawney that you should be seeking out then?"

"No, Professor," Fred continued, in the most serious tone that Casey had ever heard Fred use with a professor. "Please. This is serious." Fred glanced at Casey before continuing. "It involved You-Know-Who." The skepticism did not fade from McGonagall's face, sp perhaps it was out of sheer curiosity and amusement that she muttered to the gargoyle, "Fizzing Whizbee," to the gargoyles, causing them to jump aside. The three of them passed them by and Professor McGonagall knocked on the door of Dumbledore's office.

"Come in," Dumbledore called softly so that they barely heard him. As they entered, Fred looked around eagerly. Casey remembered that Fred had never been inside Dumbledore's office before. Fred glanced at Casey, raising his eyebrows in approval.

"Ah, Ms. Volkov, Mr. Weasley, Professor McGonagall," Dumbledore said softly as he looked up from a rather old book that lay open in front of him. "For what purpose am I graced with your presence at this hour?"

"I found Weasley and Volkov trying to get into your office a few minutes ago," McGonagall began. "They told me it was urgent."

"Is that so?" Dumbledore said, his expression curious and open. "Please, have a seat and tell me what has happened." Casey hesitated. Sitting in front Dumbledore made her feel even more ridiculous. What if, after all, it had all been a silly dream and Casey was causing trouble for no reason? Casey gave Fred a pleading look.

"Professor," Fred began in his newly-adopted serious tone. "We were in the common room celebrating and Casey came out of the dormitory extremely upset. I've never seen her look so panicked." Fred looked back at Casey, unsure if he should continue.

"So naturally, you went after her?" Dumbledore eased, and Fred nodded.

"Yes, professor," Fred said while looking at Casey. "I was worried, and she said she needed to speak to you. You see, I think she had a vision."

"A vision?" Dumbledore asked, though he did not seem to use a tone of disbelief, but an encouraging one. "Is that so, Casey?"

"I-I think so," Casey stuttered. "I don't know if it was a vision...but it was like a dream. Well, I was asleep and suddenly I was...somewhere else." Dumbledore nodded in understanding and waited for her to continue.

"I was in an old house and there were three men," Casey explained, doing her best to keep her voice steady. "One was my great-uncle Atius. And...he was talking to another man...who I think was You-Know-Who."

Dumbledore did not seem at all surprised when she uttered her final statement. "Did you see Lord Voldemort?"

"No," Casey said, trying to remember the details of her vision more clearly. "No, he was sitting in a chair and not facing me...but he was talking about a return...and he was angry with Atius for murdering my grandfather...he said it could have raised suspicion and ruined his return."

Dumbledore nodded serenely. He still did not look incredulous, but completely calm and unphased. "Did Lord Voldemort mention any of his plans to return while you were present?"

"No, sir." Casey said, feeling disappointed that she had no information to provide.

"Where were you in this scene? I mean to ask, from where were you seeing this?"

"I was in the corner," Casey explained. "I don't think I was really there...or, I mean, no one could see me there."

"I see," Dumbledore said. "Was there any sign of whether this was happening in the present or the future? Do you know if perhaps, this is a premonition?"

"No, sir," Casey looked down at her feet embarrassed. "I don't think so. But I really do think it was happening while I was there. It felt..._real._"

"It is very possible that it was, indeed, real," Dumbledore confirmed. "Thank you for telling me this, Casey."

"Professor?" Casey asked. "Do you know why this happened?"

"I'm afraid I do not," Dumbledore said, though he did not sound puzzled. "There are many possibilities, some of which involve Divination, which I daresay I was never very good at, it is a fickle subject. However, I would very much like you to come to me if this happens again."

"Yes, sir," Casey said softly. She felt dismissed, so she rose out of her chair, followed by Fred, who looked just as puzzled as she felt.  
"Casey, I do wish for you to know that no matter what, you are safe here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore assured her as she began to turn toward his office door. "Thank you for informing me."

"Well, I don't know about you," Fred said to Casey as they headed back to the Gryffindor common room. "But Dumbledore didn't seem surprised by what you had to say."

"Maybe he didn't believe me," Casey reasoned, running a hand through her messy hair.

"Why would he tell you to keep him updated if it happens again if he didn't believe you?" Fred asked her. "I think he believes you, but he just didn't look...surprised. Sort of like he already knew."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Casey said. "Maybe Dumbledore knows a lot more than the rest of us do."

"Or he's off his rocker," Fred reasoned. "I wouldn't rule that one out." Fred paused. "Are you feeling a little better?"

"I suppose." Casey answered, but she then realized that she felt rather weak and remembered that she had not eaten much of anything all day. "I'm starving."

"Blimey!" Fred cried out. "I'd forgotten you missed the feast!"

"Oh yeah!" Casey agreed, eager to change the subject. "Who is the Hogwarts champion? Was it Angelina? Is that why everyone was celebrating?"

"No, but get this, Hogwarts has two champions: Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter!" Fred exclaimed.

"Harry?" Casey cried out this time. "But how?"

"I don't know, love!" Fred said with great enthusiasm. "He won't tell anyone, he claims he didn't put his name in the goblet. If it can't be me and George, I'm glad it's a Gryffindor."

"But it's dangerous, Fred!" Casey worried. "He could die!"

"Oh, Case, come off it," Fred hushed her. "Harry's faced You-Know-Who twice, I think he can pass through the tournament without a scratch!"

"Maybe," Casey murmured, not quite convinced.

"Hey, you know what?" Fred blurted, stopping in his tracks. "I have an idea. Come on, Case. Let's go on an adventure."

"What? To where?" Casey asked bewildered, as Fred turned on the spot and began to walk the opposite direction. When Casey didn't follow him, Fred walked back to her and grabbed her hand.

"Trust me, Case. You'll like this." He gently pulled her forward, and with an amused smile, Casey came forward and followed Fred in the opposite direction. And even though she did so, Fred did not let go of her hand as they walked.

**Hey guys! So I'm back from that weird hiatus and writing again! If you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me! I promise I'll get more chapters out really soon! **


	14. Chapter 14: Dinner and a Drink-Off

Fred kept Casey's hand lightly secured in his as they turned down a staircase outside of the Great Hall.

"Fred, what's going on?"

"I completely forgot that you'd never come here with George and I." Fred grinned. "He and I discovered it last year when you are Kiran were still hot and heavy. Probably the best discovery we've ever made in Hogwarts."

"What is it?" Casey persisted as she had the entire way through the castle, but Fred refused to even so much at hint where they were going. Fred smirked and shook his head, but he finally released her hand when they reached a painting of a large bowl of fruit.

"Where are we?" Casey asked looking around. "Are we below the Great Hall?"

"Right you are, dear," Fred chirped. He reached out toward the painting and started to touch the pear in the painting.

"What are you doing, Fred?" Casey laughed, raising her eyebrows, but Fred grinned back at her and continued to tickle the pear in the painting. It was only moments before they were greeted by a high-pitched giggle which seemed to have come from the pear. Fred grinned even more widely and winked at Casey.

"Step back," He muttered, still smiling. The painting swung forward and revealed the entrance to a beautiful, immaculate kitchen.

"The kitchens?" Casey's eyes grew wide as she peeked through the portrait hole into the kitchen where tiny house elves were busying themselves with cleaning.

"I hope you're hungry," Fred said, grabbing Casey's hand once again and guiding her through the portrait hole.

"Good evening, Master Weasley," A high-pitched voice called to them, and they turned to see a house elf with tennis ball shaped eyes, huge bat-like ears, and a head that had a few different knitted hates heaped atop it.

"Good evening, Dobby," Fred smirked, gesturing toward Casey. "This is my dear friend Casey. She's also a friend of Harry Potter. Casey, this is Dobby, a friend of Harry's." Dobby gave Casey a low bow and cheerfully squeaked, "It is great to meet you, Miss Casey. A friend of Harry Potter's is a friend of mine."

"Dobby is a free elf, Case," Fred grinned at her. "Harry freed him from the Malfoys."

"That's wonderful," Casey murmured, but she could not help but be distracted by her surroundings. It was a huge kitchen filled with house elves who were beginning to gather around them.

"What can we do for you, Mister and Madam?" Another house elf squeaked.

"My friend here missed the feast earlier because she wasn't feeling well," Fred explained, placing a hand on Casey's back. Casey had to hold back a shiver at Fred's touch. "Now she's feeling hungry, so we were hoping we could grab some dinner."

"Of course!" Dobby cried, eager to help his new friend. "What would you like us to prepare for you?" Fred looked inquisitively at Casey.

"What do you want, Case?" Fred asked. "Anything you want, they can do it. Amazing cooks."

"Anything?" Casey raised her eyebrows. A few of the house elves nodded cheerfully. "My favorite food is spaghetti bolognese, can you make that?" She asked the house elves. They all nodded eagerly.

"Ah, yes Italian," Fred exclaimed. "Make that two, then!" The house elves scurried away to prepare their late dinners and two house elves brought two chairs over to them. As they sat in chairs opposite each other, a small table appeared between them with a crack. Magically, there was a long candle stick and a bouquet of flowers on the table.

"Fancy," Casey muttered with a laugh.

"They're not joking around," Fred said, peering at the bouquet of white lilies that sat in the crystal vase before them. He gently took one from the vase and reached across to hand it to her.

"There you are, love," Fred smiled. "For you." Casey smiled back, taking the lily and placing the stem behind her ear so that the lily would lay atop her hair.

"It looks even more beautiful with your new haircut." Fred commented. Casey blushed and looked away from Fred down onto the white table cloth. As if this was not enough like a date, now Fred's compliments were making her stomach flip.

"So Harry is really the Hogwarts champion?"

"He and Diggory, yeah," Fred said. A house elf came to them with a basket of dinner rolls. Fred grabbed one eagerly and handed it to Casey. "Eat up, you need something before you pass out."

"Thanks," Casey muttered. "But that can't happen, it's the _Tri_wizard tournament. Not _Quad_wizard tournament."

"I guess it can happen because they're going through with it." Fred said, taking a large bite of his own roll. Casey followed suit, and was relieved to finally be eating. She hadn't really realized how hungry she was until she began to eat. "Harry didn't want to talk about, so I'm not really sure what was going on."

"Do you think he entered his name somehow?" Casey asked.

"How could his name have come out otherwise?" Fred returned.

"I don't know," Casey shrugged. "But how could he have entered it? If you and George and countless others couldn't get past the age line, how could Harry?" Fred thought for a moment and shrugged.

"Maybe you're right." Fred nodded. "But I don't know why someone else would put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire." They were interrupted by house elves bringing them each a plate heaping with spaghetti as well as a large bottle of mead and two crystal glasses.

"Thanks," Fred said to the elves, and began to pour them very generous glasses of mead.

"This looks amazing!" Casey exclaimed. She quickly took a large bite. "I' tades amadin' doo!" She said with a mouth full of hot pasta. Fred laughed.

"I'm glad you like it! They really do a great job."

They continued to joke and laugh as they ate, and Casey was immediately reminded of how much she adored spending time with Fred, and how seamless their conversation was. It felt as if no time had passed at all as they spoke, and Casey was not sure if the lightness she felt was love or a full stomach.

Casey drained her last bit of mead and sighed.

"So about you blackmailing Bagman," Casey began, and Fred's smile faded from his countenance. "How are you going about that now?"

"Well, he's been involved with some nasty dealings with goblins," Fred started.

"Ouch," Casey sighed.

"Yeah, exactly," Fred nodded. "He cheated him like he cheated us, and he's right scared that they'll find him and pulverize him."

"I would be too." Casey agreed. "But how do you know this?"

"George and I know everything, Case," Fred laughed. "I thought you knew this by now!"

"My mistake," Casey chuckled.

"Well, Bill works with goblins, and he knows Bagman. We wrote to him asking for advice and-"

"You can't tell me that Bill told you to blackmail Bagman!" Casey exclaimed.

"Not quite," Fred cocked his head and looked away from he briefly. "But he did mention that we shouldn't expect anything back from him and told us about his current situation. The blackmailing part was George's and my idea."

"So you're writing him to tell him you know about it or...?"

"We're writing to tell him we know what he's done and we know which goblins he's cheated and that if he's not willing to give us our money, we'll contact the goblins and let them know precisely when he'll be in the Hogwarts area and when."

"That's cruel," Casey said, but she couldn't help but smile.

"I believe that's the point of blackmail, love." Fred answered. "But we haven't sent out the letter yet. We're trying to get it to sound a little less incriminating toward us, but still just as threatening toward him."

"And is it working?" Casey asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Not really," Fred shrugged again.

"And you hid this from me because you thought I'd try and stop you?"

"Well, yeah," Fred answered. "But mostly because it's not your battle to fight. We didn't want you to get involved and get into trouble-"

"I always get into trouble with you, Fred," Casey pointed out.

"Sure, but would you have wanted to this time?" Fred asked, and this time Casey shrugged. "We knew you'd think it was stupid of us to do it and you'd either try and convince us to stop or you'd just offer to give us money."

"I probably would, yes." Casey agreed.

"It was dumb that we shut you out, Casey," Fred told her. "But we need to do this, and we don't want you to get wrapped up in it as well, you know?"

"I understand," Casey nodded. "I won't try and stop you. I don't think I've been able to stop you and George from doing something once you made up your minds."

"So you accept my apology?"

"Of course, Fred," Casey smiled. "It really wasn't that big of a deal."

"Well, you definitely seemed upset." Fred said. "I really hate it when you're upset, and I don't want to be the one to do it." Casey felt her heart skip a beat in response to the look in Fred's eyes; he seemed to somehow be staring right into her with his blazing glance. Quickly, she reached for the bottle of mead and pured herself another generous glass and filled Fred's even though he hadn't finished his yet.

"Oh, so it this how we're playing it tonight, Volkova?" Fred laughed. "All right, you're on. You want a drink off? We'll have a drink off." He took a huge gulp of his mead and then gave her a dazzling grin.

* * *

Both a little drunk, they thanked the house elves profusely and climbed out of the Hogwarts House, laughing hysterically at everything the other said. Fred's arm was latched around Casey's waist, and in her drunkenness, she really did not mind. Quite the opposite, in fact, she wished Fred would stop her and kiss her hard in the corridor. They kept walking however, and as they neared the Gryffindor tower, Casey wondered if maybe she should kiss Fred. She looked up at his lightly freckled face and his soft red hair dangling a little lower on his forehead than usual and his eyes met hers.

"All right, love?" He asked her.

"Yes," She said softly, looking up at him. They had both stopped walking, staring at each other. Time seemed to have slowed significantly as Fred turned to face her squarely, staring intently down into her eyes. Were they moving closer? Were his eyes beginning to close, or was she just imagining it?

At the moment when she finally decided to go for it-she was going to finally kiss Fred Weasley-Peeves whizzed by them chucking old quills and were somehow still wet with ink. Fred sprang away from Casey and clumsily grabbed his wand from his pocket, and with a flick, the quills Peeves was throwing turned to dust. Angry, Peeves blew a raspberry at the two of them and whizzed away without a word.

"Lovely bit of magic," Casey commented to Fred. He smiled briefly.

"Thanks. Believe it or not, I am a wizard, and sometimes, I do magic." Laughing, Casey sidled toward Fred, but he didn't notice and began to walk ahead of her.

"Come on, let's get to the common room before we have to deal with Filch."

They walked back to the common room quickly and in silence as if Peeves had made them realize the seriousness of what was about to happen. Casey began to wonder if she really was imagining it, if maybe Fred hadn't wanted to kiss her at all.

By the time they got inside the common room, Casey no longer felt very drunk, but just very sleepy. It was nearly midnight and the common had cleared out of almost everyone, so Fred an Casey settled themselves on a sofa near the fireplace.

"Feeling better, Case?" Fred asked heavily. His eyes were beginning to droop and it was obvious that he was just as sleepy as Casey was.

"Yes, a lot better," Casey muttered. "Thank you so much, Fred." Fred grinned at Casey with his eyes half closed, his dimples etched across his cheek even more strongly than usual.

"I promised you, I'd be there for you anytime." Fred answered her. "You know, I think I needed this to happen, too. It's been a strange year so far."

"It has," Casey sighed, feeling something drop in her chest. "I'm afraid," she said before realizing it.

"Of what?"

"To go to sleep," Casey responded, knowing that that wasn't exactly what she meant, but she suddenly did feel quite nervous to fall asleep. Fred slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"You don't have to," Fred told her. "We can stay here."

"Not forever," Casey said, scooting closer to Fred and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Nonsense," Fred rested his head on hers and released a deep, tired sigh. "We can live the rest of our lives right here on this sofa."

"Sounds good," Casey whispered as her eyes began to close.

**Thanks for reading! Please send reviews with comments/criticisms/questions if you have them! I'll be trying to update this even more very soon!**


	15. Chapter 15: Hechicería

Fred stared down into Casey's protuberant blue eyes that glistened and shone in the moonlight. Her black curls fell back in a stark contrast against the white sheets of his four poster bed and her red lips were shadows in the dark , Fred leaned over her and and placed his lips on hers and kissed her. She tasted sweet and felt so soft against him that Fred was almost afraid that his intensity would hurt her, but he could not stop, not now. He wondered how on earth he could have waited so long when he now felt that she was all he ever needed? He moved his hands down the soft, supple skin of her back and slid them further down, squeezing her hips as their lips passed over each other and she lightly nipped his bottom lip and slipped her tongue skillfully into her mouth. Surprised, he let a small moan leave his throat. Underneath him, she tensed and he could feel a smile form on her lips. He parted from her and looked down into her face once again, and felt a surge of warm energy in his chest. He sat up and looked down at her bare chest and stomach and ran his hands up her rib cage, barely able to believe how incredibly soft her skin was under his palms. As he leaned back in toward her lips, he felt a strange sensation, and within seconds he was ripped awake by his head slipping forward.

Breathing rapidly, he looked around the common room and realized that he'd been dreaming, and that Casey had been awakened by his jerk forward. As she rubbed her eyes, he shook head, trying to rid the image of Casey's naked body on his four poster out of his head, and he noticed that he had a more or less obvious bulge in his pants/

"Oh my god," He whispered allowed, but before he could really disguise it, Casey touched him on the shoulder.

"You okay, Fred?"

"Uh, yeah," Fred stuttered, moving a little so that she would not notice the front of his pants. "I'm-I'm fine. It's just later than I thought."

"Well, you can count on two bottles of mead to put you to sleep." She laughed sleepily.

"I'm going up to bed, Fred." She said, standing and ruffling his hair as she walked by him. "Good night."

"Good night, Casey." Fred murmured as she walked up to her dormitory, and Fred felt so guilty that he looked at his feet until he knew she was out of sight. He rested his face on his hands and blew out sharply. Sure, he had thought about kissing Casey-and maybe a little more than that-before, but he had certainly never dreamed of it before, and it had never felt so real. He had dreamed of other girls before and even done the real thing with a few, but nothing had felt that intense before. Fred lifted his head and sighed, his heart still pounding and his breathe still heaving, and decided that the only thing he could do was go back to bed. A thought popped into his head before he could distinguish it: he hoped that maybe when he fell asleep, he could fall back into that dream again.

"Well, what do you think?" Casey looked to her sister who sat across from her in the library. A few students at the next table glared at them.

"Keep it down," Alex whispered. "We're in a library."

"Sorry," Casey whispered, glaring back at the students next to them. "But what do you think?" She persisted. She had just told her sister about the dream about their great-uncle and she'd had the night before

"I don't know..." Alex said looking a little withdrawn. "What did Dumbledore say?"

"He didn't really say much," Casey whispered back. "But I think he thought it was real too. He told me to let him know immediately if it happens again."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Alex murmured. "I think it was possibly real, too. You've never had dreams like that before, they're usually really ridiculous if you even ever remember them, actually."

"So you think it was real?"

"I said it's a possibility." Alex responded. "So you...you saw You-Know-Who?"

"I didn't see him," Casey explained, lowering her voice even more. "But I heard him...and he's planning a return, Alex." Alex grimaced.

"So Atius is with him?"

"Yes," Casey confirmed. "And has been for quite some time from the looks of it." Alex's expression darkened.

"Bastard," She muttered, closing her Herbology book and and rolled up the piece of parchment she'd been scrawling an essay on. But as she tucked her book and parchment into her bag, she slowed to a halt and gave Casey a quizzical look.

"What?" Casey asked, looking over her shoulders to see if something ridiculous was going on behind her.

"What if...?" Alex trailed off and furrowed her brains. "Yes, it'd make a lot of sense."

"Alex, what are you talking about?" Casey said. "I'm not a mind reader."

"Well, that's just it, isn't it?" Alex's eyes widened enthusiastically. "You're not a mind reader. You didn't see it from anyone else's perspective, which is what it would be if it were Legilimency, right?"

"Uh, yeah, but-"

"Well, it's not Divination, either, because you were sure that it was happening at that exact moment."

"Yeah, Alex, I've already thought of this stuff." Casey responded, a little annoyed.

"Doesn't it sound a little familiar, though?" Alex urged Casey, her voice rising a little louder than a whisper, causing the students next to them to glare again.

"No?"

"Come on," Alex went back to her whisper. "You see something in a dream that you absolutely know is real and happened exactly when you saw it and then you panicked? Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Abuelita did that all the time!" Alex said in a stage whisper. Angrily, the other two students began to pack up their things and exited the library in a huff.

"Wait, you're right!" Casey nearly exclaimed. "She saw us sneak away from school when we were 10 in her dream and when we got back we found a quetzal waiting for us with a howler!"

"Exactly," Alex said. "And it happened all the time, she saw grandpa have a heart attack and was able to wake up in time to help him, and she always claimed she saw Mama and Papa's death, didn't she?"

"Yeah," Casey said, becoming excited. "She did. Do you think this is bruja magic?"

"It has to be!" Alex said, quickly rising from her chair and looking in the shelves. "There should be something in Bruja magic in here."

"Maybe in the restricted section?" Casey proposed. "La Bruja Negra magic can be pretty dark sometimes."

"Well, it's a worth a try, right?" Alex said. "_Accio Bruja Books!_" Casey laughed at the spell, expecting nothing to happen, but one little dusty book floated toward them and Alex wrenched it open as soon as she could get her hands on it.

"It looks like this is mostly about healing, which, granted, is most of what Bruja Blanca magic consists of, but there's got to be more..."

"If only Abuelita were still alive!" Casey sighed. "We really should have learned more of this from her. All I learned from her was potion brewing."

"Here's a lot about hechicería, 'the way of the witch,' maybe there will be something other than curses or healing remedies." Alex flipped through the book and Casey peeked over her shoulder eagerly.

"Here's a bit about interesting bit about death-defying amulets..." Alex muttered. "Here we are, Divination."

"I thought you said it wasn't Di-" Casey started, but Alex interrupted her.

"Well, it's not the European kind of Divination, but that's what they call it here. It's much more about seeing things that are happening far away, but it's possible for Brujas to become great seers."

"Aren't you born a Seer?" Casey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, but you're also born Brujas," Alex pointed out. "And our grandmother was a Bruja and so was our mother. So we probably are, too. We _are _witches, after all."

"I'm lousy at Divination, though." Casey pointed out.

"But Bruja magic grows with age!" Alex nearly exclaimed. "That's why most known Brujas are little old ladies."

"That's true." Casey said, wishing that their grandmother had taught them a bit more about her craft before she had died. Alex closed the book and handed it to Casey.

"Here, we'll have to study this." Alex told her. "This stuff may come in handy...especially if You-Know-Who is planning a return. Bruja magic can be much more powerful than what European wizards learn...some Brujas can kill someone from hundreds of miles away..." As Alex said this, the two of them looked anxiously at each other. Casey felt a wave of anxiety about the whole situation, and wished that it had all just been a ridiculous dream.

Fred and George had headed down to breakfast that morning expecting to find Casey there waiting for them, but were surprised to find that no one had seen her all morning, except for Hermione, who said she saw her in the library.

"At 9 in the morning?" George asked, bewildered. "Are you sure it was Casey? I didn't knew she had the ability to get up that early on a Saturday."

"It was her," Hermione confirmed as she read that morning's Daily Prophet. "She was with her sister, Alex."

"I see," George nodded, scooping some porridge into a bowl. Fred on the other hand, was slightly relieved that he didn't have to see Casey this morning. Though the rest of his sleep went undisturbed, he woke up in the morning unusually anxious and a little embarrassed.

"Why so quiet, brother?" George asked him after breakfast as they headed out onto the frosty grounds with their broomsticks to fly on the Quidditch field.

"I had a..." Fred tried to figure out how to phrase it. "...weird night last night."

"Did you?" George asked, looking up at the cloudy sky. "Were you with Casey?"

"Yeah, actually," Fred hesitated. "I'm pretty sure we almost kissed."

"Oh, really?" George perked up with a grin. "Finally! Why didn't you only 'almost do it?"

"Peeves started throwing things at us," Fred said.

"So you decided not to kiss her because of Peeves? Come on, mate!"

"I don't know, I was drunk when I decided to go for it, but then I thought about it and-"

"You were drunk?" George raised an eyebrow.

"I took Casey to the kitchens and we had some mead,"

"Okay, so let me get this straight," George looked at his twin squarely. "You couldn't even kiss her when you were drunk? Was she drunk too?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Mate, what is happening to you?" George exclaimed. "She would have kissed you back, especially if she was drunk. You need to just do it already! You're practically dating as it is."

"George, it's just weird," Fred sighed, shaking his head.

"What's weird about it?"

"It's weird falling for your best friend, that's what's weird!" Fred exclaimed. "I don't know how to act. This isn't like some other girl."

"We've been over this, Fred," George shook his head in frustration. "And I still think it's just an excuse because you're afraid."

"That's it, though," Fred said. "I am afraid. She's perfect, George. No one else has ever been perfect. I have a chance with a perfect girl who blows my mind, but how do I know I won't completely ruin it? I'll never have this chance again, George, but I don't know if it's worth it to lose everything with her." They had reached the Quidditch field and they both began to mount their brooms.

"You've got it bad, mate," George said simply as he kicked off and soared into the sky.

'Don't I know it.' Fred thought as he took off after his twin.

**Hey sorry this one is a little short, but I want to keep updated! I'll try to get some more updates out again soon! Let me know what you think! Thanks again for reading!**


	16. Chapter 16: At Face Value

Fred looked over the small yet glittering ruby earrings in their small box and smiled. When he'd first gotten them, their silver was tarnished and ugly and one of the rubies was loose, but he was able to enchant them back to strength and their original glory. Fred and George had gotten a couple of galleons together two years ago on a trip to Hogsmeade only a few weeks before Casey's birthday. Fred and George had been heading to Zonko's when they saw a witch outside the three broomsticks calling to other witches about fabulous jewelry. It had actually been George who pulled Fred over to look at the jewelry.

"You're going to get her jewelry?" The 14-year-old Fred had muttered to his twin, laughing. "What makes you think she wants jewelry from you?"

"Shut it, it'd be from both of us," George said. Over the entirety of their third year and now their fourth, George denied that he had a crush on Casey anymore, though Fred could see through it. "You know she's got a thing for rubies."

"Yeah, but we won't be able to afford them." Fred pointed out. "Let's just get her something from Zonko's." As Fred started to move away from the witch's box of battered jewelry George grabbed his arm.

"Wait, look at these." George said. He reached for the pair of battered ruby earrings but the witch beat them to it, holding up the pair of earrings.

"These were said to have belonged to Mafalda Gryffindor herself," The witch rasped, but Fred ignored her.

"They look as though they're about to fall apart," He said, but he could not help but notice how sharp and clear the rubies sparkle were in their grubby old metal.

"Nonsense, they are enchanted with impenetrable strength charms," The witch insisted, putting the earrings in Fred's hand.

"How much?" Fred asked.

"Four Galleons," The witch responded quickly. "I'm giving you quite an offer for such a treasure,"

"There's no way these are worth four galleons," Fred shook his head.

"Three," The witch countered.

"We could-" George started.

"No, I'm sorry, we just can't pay three," Fred cut George off, giving him a impish smirk. "I'm afraid we'll have to do business elsewhere.

"Fine, two!" The witch said, grabbing Fred's hand, not allowing him to return the earrings to her box.

"I've only got one," Fred unearthed the Galleon from his pocket and held it in his other hand. "Take it or leave it." The witch had studied the Galleon for a moment and then finally nodded and took the Galleon from Fred's hand, and Fred pocketed the ugly old earrings.

When they had returned home from Hogsmeade that day, Fred and George excitedly fixed up the earrings for their friend. As Fred thought back on it, he wondered if maybe he had started developing his crush on Casey back then because of how enthusiastic and excited he was to see her face light up when they gave her those earrings. By the time the had performed what then felt like an endless amount of spells on the earrings, they looked as good as new and more beautiful than they could have imagined. However, the day before Casey's birthday, she ran up to them looking radiant and holding a flower that looked mysteriously radiant for mid-November.

"Kiran Singh asked me out on a date!" She had exclaimed. "He finally asked me out, we're going to Hogsmeade for dinner tomorrow!" Hastily, the twins had decided not to gift her the earrings, deciding that perhaps it _would _be a little strange to receive a pair of ruby earrings from your completely platonic friends, no matter how much you like rubies. The twins had put the newly-beautiful earrings away and said they'd give them to their mother someday, but forgot about them soon after.

Now Fred held the earrings up to the light and admiring their glow while he imagined how they would look next to Casey's raven curls. He smiled widened as he envisioned it.

"Ready, mate?" George asked form behind him.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." Fred answered. They had decided to throw a surprise party for Casey in the Gryffindor Common Room that night, for the next day was Casey's birthday. However, George, Lee, and Ron, who'd been hanging around them a lot lately due to a row with Harry, needed time to set up the Common Room for the party, so George convinced Fred to take Casey out for her birthday.

"You'll be fine, mate." George said reassuringly. "You've done this before." Within the last month, George had successfully convinced Fred that he needed "quit being a prat" and tell Casey about his feelings for her, and despite all of his arguments and misgivings, Fred was convinced. His feelings were becoming so strong that they seemed to be pushing his fear to the side of his mind.

"Are you sure I should tell her today though?" Fred asked as he placed the earrings back in their small box. "Kiran asked her out on the same day two years ago."

"I don't think she'd mind you taking his special day, Fred," George told him. "Honestly, she'll probably be so happy that you finally did something about it that she won't care about anything else." George pointed at the box Fred was pushing into his pocket. "Those earrings will finally get some use out of them."

"Yeah, finally," Fred chuckled. "I'm glad we're giving them to her."

"_We're_? Fred, you're giving them to her. Not me."

"It'll be weird if it's just me giving them to her!" Fred argued.

"You're about to confess your love to her, Fred," George pointed out. "I don't think that'd be weird at all. That's the exact message you're trying to send."

"I suppose," Fred murmured. He felt odd. Never in his life had he felt this nervous; he'd never had much to be nervous about. However, the idea of this night ending badly was enough to make him want to vomit...though the idea of finally getting to kiss his Casey made his stomach flip.

Casey walked back from the cold grounds with her sister, Alex and they chuckled, much more carefree than they had been since they came to Hogwarts for the year. They had enjoyed a nice lunch together in the kitchens (Casey had been eager to show her sister the discovery that Fred had showed her) and they were now strolling beside the lake despite the cloudy sky that threatened rain or sleet.

"I can't believe we're already 17 tomorrow," Alex sighed after a long laugh at a joke that the two of them had made.

"It doesn't feel like that we're that mature, does it?"

"Probably because we're not," Casey laughed with her. "Wow, though, it didn't really set in for me that we're going to be _of age_."

"I wish Grandpa where still around." Alex's voice became nothing but a fragile line in the soil before them, and a weight fell on Casey's chest.

"Me too," she muttered, and looked up at the sky. "He's up there somewhere, though, I suppose."

"If you belive that sort of thing," Alex said with a shrug. "It's been a hard year so far, to say the least."

"We'll get through it," Casey said with a lot more confidence in her voice than she actually had. Lost for words, she looked back up toward the castle.

"We should probably head back, I have a birthday dinner to get to."

"With the twins?" Alex asked as they started toward the castle.

"Just Fred." Casey said. "George and Lee got himself a detention for tonight, so Fred promised to take me to dinner."

"Ooo," Alex gave a high pitched sigh. "A date?"

"Not a date, a birthday dinner," Casey corrected her.

"But it may as well be a date, right?" Alex interjected.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the two of you are basically dating anyway, aren't you?"

"Well, no," Casey said. "But, I mean...I don't know, Alex. I have no idea what's going on."

"Well, it definitely looks like you're dating, and it's obvious the two of you really like each other."

"We do. Or I guess I do...I like him a lot."

"Does he know that?" Alex asked.

"I don't know." Casey shrugged. "I feel like he has to know by now. I feel like I'm being obvious about it."

"Well, have you told him?"

"No," Casey admitted. "I'm scared to, I guess. He's my best friend and I don't want to ruin anything. And what if he doesn't like me and is just being sweet to me because he's my friend?"

"He's probably thinking the same thing." Alex told her. "But if I know anything about Fred Weasley, it's that he's not sweet to just anyone. Even to his friends, have you ever seen him treat anyone else as well as he treats you?"

"Well, no, but..."

"I think you're thinking too much about this," Alex grinned at her. "Just take it face value. If you feel like he likes you, and you feel like you like him, you should tell him."

"I think I'm going to," Casey reassured her. Then, she addressed something that had been in the back of her mind ever since she realized that she had a crush on Fred. "Do you think it would work?"

"You and Fred?" Alex shrugged. "I don't think that's something you can predict very easily, but I don't think it _wouldn't _work. You two have been pretty close for a while. You've both seen each other grow. If that doesn't help you continue to grow together, I don't know what would." Alex's words caused a smile to bloom on Casey's face.

"I really want it to work out." Casey muttered. "I don't think I've ever felt this...supported."

"I think you should go for it," Alex grinned back.

As they reached the Entrance Hall, Alex and Casey came upon a group of seventh years gathered near the Great Hall entrance, and much to Casey's dismay, she say her ex-boyfriend, Kiran Singh. Even worse, he saw her too, and gave a sheepish wave and approached them.

"Hey, you two," Kiran said casually, as if the last six months had not happened. "Happy early birthday!" Neither Casey nor Alex responded until after Kiran looked down at his feet in embarrassment.

"What do you want, Kiran?" Casey responded to him.

"Right," He sighed. "Casey, I just really want to talk to you. I need to apologize to you."

"Go ahead then." Casey told him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Can we..." Kiran stuttered. "Alone?" Alex glanced at Casey with questioning eyes. Casey nodded at Alex and turned back to Kiran.

"Fine," She said and turned back to Alex, "Come by the Common Room later tonight after dinner and hang out with the twins and I." Alex nodded, said goodbye, and disappeared to the Slytherin dungeons.

"Do you want to go back out in the grounds?" Kiran gestured to the doors.

"No, Kiran, can you just tell me what you need to tell me?" Casey sighed angrily. Why on all days, did he choose to apologize? Why, after she felt like she was finally moving on from him, did he need to wedge himself right back into her head?

"Right, I..." Kiran spluttered again, looking back down at his feet. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you. I've been thinking a lot about it lately...and I guess I was kind of unfair." Kiran paused, as if he expected a response, but Casey didn't give him one. "I don't know, Casey, things were going so fast..."

"Kiran, you've said all of this before," Casey told him. "Why do you have to come back and say it again?"

"I just don't want things to be bad between us," Kiran said, finally looking her in the eyes.

"Well, they are, Kiran," Casey quipped. "And that's how it's going to be for a while."

"But I'm sorry, Case," Kiran nearly pleaded.

"I don't want your apology," Casey said, and she realized how great it was to finally be telling him this. "I don't care how you feel about it. You're not in my life anymore, and honestly, I don't want you in it right now."

"Casey, do you know how terrible it feels to walk around here knowing you hate me?"

"I don't _hate _you," Casey's voiced softened. "I just...you hurt me and I just don't want to be around you, okay?"

"Case, I miss you," Kiran said sheepishly. Casey felt as though she was punched squarely in the stomach. She wasn't sure what to say because at her core, she missed him, too, but the feeling had been fading fast. She was saved from answering him by a call from the staircase behind her.

"Hey," Fred's voice sounded, and she turned around quickly.

"Fred!" She exclaimed. "What's up?"

"I was just coming to find you." Fred said curtly, glaring at Kiran.

"I guess I'll be going, then," Kiran said, taking the cue. "Happy early birthday." He stepped forward as if to hug Casey but Fred stepped forward as well and placed his hand on Casey's shoulder. Kiran nodded curtly and turned to leave she and Fred in the corridor.

"What did he want?" Fred said, contempt dripping from his voice.

"To say sorry." Casey said simply, an odd metallic feeling invading her chest and making her heart ache.

"What a prat," Fred muttered. "I'm sorry about him, Casey."

"Yeah, me too," Casey said softly. "What does he want me to say to him? That we should get back together? Is that what he wants?" Fred's heart felt as though someone had dropped an anvil on it and was pushed into his stomach.

"Wh-what you want is more important, Case," He responded, trying to keep his voice even. Casey didn't respond to his comment, but looked around quickly.

"I'm sorry, Fred, what time is it?" Casey looked up at him. "I didn't know I would take so long."

"Don't worry about it," Fred attempted a smile but could only think of seeing Casey standing with Kiran from the staircase.

"Do you want to go now?" Casey asked her.

"Yeah, let's go, how does the Three Broomsticks sound?" Fred asked her.

"Sounds amazing right now." Casey sighed. "I can't wait to have a Butterbeer and some braised lamb!"

"Quite the appetite tonight, eh?" Fred grinned at her.

"I could eat an entire Hippogriff!" Casey exclaimed, smiling up at Fred.

"Only one?" Fred laughed, gaining back some feeling into his legs and doing a much better job at feeling cheery. "I've seen you eat two hippogriffs in one sitting before!"

"Well, that was when I was in my prime," Casey explained thoughtfully. "I'm afraid I've gone a bit downhill since then."

"I'll say," Fred said, putting an arm around Casey's shoulders. Both of them respectively felt a surge of warmth run through their chest, more or less eradicating the negative feelings that had flooded them back in the entrance hall. "Happy early birthday, Case." Fred gave her shoulders a squeeze.

When they got to the Three Broomsticks, they both ordered braised lamb and sipped on Butterbeers as they joked and talked about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. When the joke shop was exhausted, Fred sighed.

"What a year," He said as he gulped down some Butterbeer. As he said it, he remembered the gift he had for Casey, and what he had rehearsed over and over again the night before...but his heart gave a jolt so violent that he almost lost his breath.

"It has been a long one already." Casey nodded. "How is it only November?"

"The first task is next week," Fred said. "I wonder what it'll be!"

"Hopefully Harry will be all right." Casey murmured, taking a small sip of her drink.

"He's faced You-Know-Who and is the only known human to have survived the Killing Curse, I'm sure he'll be fine. In fact, I bet he'll win the whole thing." Fred paused, distracted by what he knew he needed to say before they finished their dinner and left the pub.

"Casey," He said softly, looking at his Butterbeer.

"Yeah, Fred?" She finished the last bite of her lamb and looked at him intently.

"I guess I just wanted to ask," Fred's voice was nearly quivering. "Do you want to get back together with Kiran?" Casey's face fell slightly, and Fred realized his mistake. "I'm sorry, Case, I guess...you don't have to answer, I just..."

"It's okay, Fred," She looked down at the table and back up into his eyes. "I...I really don't know the answer to that question, I guess. If I'm being honest." A horrifying, sickening feeling seemed to hit Fred in the stomach; that was not the answer he'd been looking for.

"I just...I'm so mad at him, you know?" Casey's eyes glazed over as she stared at her hands. "Why did he have to wedge himself back into my life now and just...confuse me?"

_Why did he have to come in and ruin everything? _Fred thought bitterly.

"He's a prat, Casey," Fred said, trying to keep a pleading tone out of the conversation.

"He is," Casey agreed. "I just wish I didn't keep missing him." As Fred thought his heart could not lurch any lower, he realized that this isn't how someone would talk to a lover, it was how someone talked to a friend. A friends-only kind of friend.

"Are you okay?" Casey asked him, and Fred snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He said. "I just can't stand that bloke. He hurt you and whenever you're feeling secure without him, he pops back up." Fred looked at Casey's face to try and sense what kind of emotions she was feeling, but he couldn't read her. "I'm sorry, Case. It's really not my business-"

"It is your business, Fred," Casey managed a smile. "You care about me, and I appreciate it. And I'm not getting back together with Kiran." Fred smiled at her, but his chest still felt as though he'd been punched several times, and he knew that he couldn't tell Casey how he felt about her. It wasn't the right time.

"I got you something," Fred pulled out the box he had in his pocket.

"What?" Casey gasped. "Fred, you didn't have to. This dinner is enough of a gift!"

"It's too late, Case," Fred grinned. "I already gave it to you. Open it up."

With a smirk, Casey opened up the box to find the pair of ruby earrings, sparkling in their box. When Casey saw them, Fred noted that her eyes seemed to sparkle as well.

"Fred..." She whispered, looking down at them. Then her eyes narrowed and she snapped her gaze back up at him. "Are you pranking me on my birthday?"

"It's not a prank!" Fred laughed.

"They're too beautiful to be real!" Casey said. "How much did you spend on these? You should not spend money on me!" Casey scolded him, but Fred could tell she was delighted by the gift.

"I actually got them for you two years ago," Fred explained. "George and I were looking for a birthday present for you, and we found these old ugly earrings. I only paid a Galleon for them and was able to fix them up pretty well."

"You really did, Fred, they're so beautiful!" Casey looked down at them, and then steered her starry glance at Fred. "Come here!" She got up and outstretched her arms, and he stood up and hugged her so tightly that he was able to lift her off the ground.

"This is perfect, Fred, thank you!"

_If only Kiran hadn't shown his sorry head, _Fred thought. _It could've _really_ been perfect._


End file.
